Pizza & Presents

A Roleplay Transcript by Talia Salvatori and Iskrin West

Talia Salvatori's nails clack against the screen of the device as she sends a text to West. "Let me know when you have time to meet up. I have something for you."

Iskrin West pulls his flexi out of his pocket as it beeps. He reads the note, the focal discs of his artificial eye spinning. "That pizza place on Wilder in 5," he sends, then grabs an umbrella as he heads out the door.

*** 5 minutes later ***

Talia's grin spreads across her face, nearly ear to ear. “Good! I was hoping you meant this one. It -is- the best place in town though, isn’t it?” She looks to the worker behind the counter. “I texted my order in.” She reaches for the box and looks to West again. “Want to share this one?”

West looks up to see Talia approach and smiles. "Sure, why not." He gestures around. "I didn't know it was raining," he shruggs. "Where shall we eat?"

Talia stands without an umbrella, and with only her hat to shield her from the falling snow and light drizzling rain. She nestles in beside West, hoping he doesn’t object. “Let’s go around the corner.”

West slings his artificial arm around Talia's slim hips and semi-staggers with her through the streets. He sits and folds the umbrella at the street table she leads them to. "Good to see you," he says with a smile once they're settled.

Talia’s smile deepens as they take a seat at an available table. “It really is good to see you too, West. And over pizza, no less!” She lifts the lid to the box and scoots the box over toward him while she separates the cans of soda, offering him one and opening her own.

West takes a slice in one hand and grasps the can in his other, the little servos of the limb deftly whirring to open the ring pull. He takes a swig and then takes a bite. "It's been a while," he observes. "How's life treating you?"

Talia pulls a slice away, watching the cheese stretch across the table. “Everything is good. Work is good. Social life is non-existent for the most part, but I’m happy, nonetheless. You? Oh!” She takes a bite of her pizza and drops it back into the box, pulls out a napkin from the bag and wipes away the grease from her fingers. “Almost forgot. I have something for you.” She hands him a tiny box with the smallest bow imaginable on the lid. “An early Christmas gift. Merry xmas.”

West reaches out for the gift after a moment's hesitation. "I didn't get you anything," he says, turning the small box over in his hands. "Sorry." He looks up. "Should I wait?"

Talia picks up the deliciously hot and gooey pizza with one hand, and retrieves the soda can with the other. She gulps down the cold fizzy liquid and then enjoys a larger than normal bite of the pizza pie. “Oh don’t be silly. I don’t need gifts,” she says over the ongoing bite. She was really enjoying that pizza. She swallows. “Yeah, open it now please.”

West smiles, watching Talia for a moment. Then he begins to open the box. "My life is like always," he says as he opens the gift. "Busy. Solitary." He places the lid on the table and reaches in to the box with his artificial digits. They connect to a small round ball and lift it delicately out the soft cotton it is nestled in. He holds it up in front of his face, the focusing discs of his synthetic eye spinning wildly to focus in on it. Even at the ten times magnification the eye offers him, he cannot make out what it is. "Uh, thanks," he says unsure.

Talia drops her food back into the box. “We probably should have gotten plates too. My bad.” The witch laughs, and wipes her fingers again as she watches him hold up the gift. It’s a gold coated ball. Extremely small. “A cloaking device that lasts for 24 hours. This one only needs your bodily fluids to invoke. You can swallow it.” She smiled again, but her face is partially hidden by the large brim of her hat as she tilts her head down for another bite. “Or get creative,” she added.

West turns the ball in the light of the coffee booth, looking at the reflective surface. "It's pretty," he says. Then he places it back gently in its cotton bed and closes the lid. "Thank you, Talia. You know me well." He reaches across the table to squeeze her hand if she will let him. He places the box into the deep pocket of his parka and takes another slice of pizza from the box, sinking his teeth into it. "I rarely eat while sitting still, so this is enough civility for me," he says with a smile. Then after a moment: "Why'd you think to get me something?"

Talia squeezes his hand briefly. “I figured you would find it useful,” she says as she watches him put it in a safe place. “I love grabbing a bite to eat after work. I usually go to After Hrs near the office but was craving pizza and I wanted to get this to you.” She dabs the napkin at her glossed lips. “I knew it would come in handy and I just wanted to remind you that if you need a witch, you know who to come to. The best.” She grins wide again and lifts the pizza to her mouth, but not before adding, “Though it would work for anyone who invokes it properly, keep it to yourself if possible. It could be used improperly in the wrong hands. You get it.” Her gaze takes in his familiar features. She always enjoyed working with him and she considered him as close to a friend as she had in her wide circle, for the most part.

"I am the wrong hands, Talia," West says with a wry smile. "But I'll use it in the right way." He swallows the last of his slice and takes a swig of coke to wash it down. He thinks for a moment and then takes one more with a shake of his head. "I shouldn't," he says, drawing the pizza to his lips without hesitation. "So tell me," he says, changing the subject slightly, "what's got you excited these days? What keeps you up at night burning the midnight oil?"

Talia was not above tooting her own horn, but she was only half-joking. She did want him to choose her over other witches. It was money on the side and it was strengthening relationships and making new contacts. Sometimes. It was also difficult to find clients who you could trust and wouldn’t try to stab you in the back. Not that she ever really had a problem with that - she could hold her own, and a person who tries to double-cross a witch is an idiot, indeed. West though, he was professional, courteous, and intelligent. It also helped that he was easy on the eyes. Her eyes sparkle at his words. “I know you will,” she says at his mention of using it as was intended. “Oh a bit of this and that,” she says in response. She never divulged specifics of a case or order she was actively working on. “Why? Think you have something to sway me away from my immediate action items? I’d love to hear it.”

West smiles at her reticence to divulge information about her work, knowing he would answer the same way. Even so, there was something that her opinion on would be useful at this stage in one of his cases. He wipes his greasy fingers on his jeans and pulls his flexi from his pocket. He calls up a video and hands it over to her. "Take a look at that and tell me what you think," he says, passing the feather-light electronic film over to her.

A short video clip plays of a very dark figure in some kind of shroud. A few bits of hardware visible on its body. Small motes of light begin to whirl faster and faster around it until it looks like a luminescent snowstorm around the figure. Suddenly the lights flare with intense brightness and the video cuts out.

Talia wipes her fingers clean and enjoys one last sip of her soda as he pulls out his flexi. She takes the smart device gingerly in her hand and eyes the image on the screen. The witch presses play and watches the clip. “Who's the witch?” The shroud was unsettling. They looked as if they reeked of dark magic. “You after this one? Be careful.”

"No idea," he says, a slight grimace crossing his face as she mentions dark magic. "They're a person of interest in a case I'm working. Never let their face be seen on camera. You sure that's magic?" he asks, gesturing at the video, which is looping. "I wondered about the hardware."

Talia returns the device back to West, pushing the lid to the pizza box closed and then lightly brushes the felt bow with her fingertip. She loved the holidays. And how Mirandolina added a bit of holiday cheer to his pizzas. She sighs contentedly, her belly happy it finally had a meal in it. She had been too busy to eat all day. “Yes,” she says politely and nudges the box and nods toward it for him to take if he wanted. “The witch has hardware too. So a witch with a lot of money to burn. Probably thanks to his black magic.”

West takes the flexi and places it back in his pocket. "Thank you, no" he says, shaking his head as she nods towards the box. "But thank you for the pizza - just what I needed today." He rubs his artificial hand absently with his real one. "God damn tech mage," he says under his breath. "Just what I need to make this case even more difficult." He sighs heavily. "Oh well, they don't bring me in on the easy jobs, so I guess it's not unexpected. What have you got on for the rest of the day?" he asks, shaking his frustration off.

Talia laughs softly at his response. “I would imagine you get the most dangerous of them all.” She straightens in her seat and looks just beyond his shoulder, watching a couple walk down the sidewalk near LoveBot Corp. “I have a few charms to make for some personal clients and will probably have a large sugary bowl of cereal before bed. You?”

"I need to do some research," he says, patting the pocket where he keeps the flexi. "The darkweb might know something about my friend in the video. Might even visit a couple of the less reputable ripper docs around, see if they know anything." He stands up slowly, swinging his leg over the seat. "Want a coffee? I'm gonna grab one before I head across China Town."

Talia stands as he talks and gathers up the box and sodas. “Tonight? And yeah, I’d love one, thanks. Be right back.” She walks over to one of the homeless guys sitting near the overpass wall and hands him the leftovers. “I’m beat,” she says when she returns. “Need to be up in a few hours for work so a coffee would definitely help keep me awake for a bit. Hey have you seen my offices now that they have been redecorated?”

West turns to the woman behind the counter. "Two tall blacks," he says. Then he takes the cups and hands one to Talia, lifting the other to his lips. "No," he says in answer to her question. "Did one of your interns blow them up again?"

Talia takes the cup of hot coffee. “Thanks West.” She chuckles. “No, and I don’t deal with interns anymore. I just figured it was time for a change. It’s pretty smart.” She takes a sip of the coffee. “Drop by sometime.”

West: "I will," he says with a smile. "You have excellent taste in my experience." He raises his cup in a cheers gesture. "I'm glad you messaged me. This was nice."

Talia: “Glad you had time for me.” She smiles again, feeling her body heat up from the hot coffee. It was a brisk 28 degrees out and was still snowing. It was beautiful. “I mean it, come by. And if you need anything, just let me know. I’ll always make time for you.”

West: "I always have time for you, Talia," he says. He hesitates before he turns. "I might need something in the next days actually. I'll come by very soon." He takes one more swig. "But I gotta run now. Sleep well."

Talia nods, lifting her cup of joe at his words. “I hope to see you soon then. I’ll let you know if anything else comes to mind on that witch of yours too. Try not to engage just yet, if you get any good leads.” She frowns a moment, “I probably should have given you a ward instead for Christmas.”

West: "I won't," he says with a smile. "You know I don't like to take chances." He shakes his head. "I already know how I'm gonna use your gift. It's perfect." He turns and walks off slowly, putting his hood up against the rain, the umbrella tucked under his arm.

Talia watches him for a moment as she slides her gaze back over to the guy enjoying his pizza. He looks like he's about to find slumberland. She knew she should too. Soon. After a few more charms.