Night Watch (action)

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

Though he was towards the top of the police hierarchy, Vimes still always kept an eye out for excuses to go on patrol, especially at night. It wasn't that he liked tramping around Venture City at 3am during one of the city's rare rainstorms. It was a bloody miserable time to be about. But...

But some of the best days of his life had been in the middle of rainy nights. You stood behind a statue or something to get out of the wind so you could light a smoke, you hunched your shoulders just like so and your hat directed the rain down the back of your jacket, leaving you in a tiny little bubble of warmth and dryness. For just a few minutes, you could pretend that the world made some kind of sense and fade into the background. If you could manage it, you became part of the architecture.

When Vimes had been a younger officer, on a night like this, he had become so much a part of the background that a purse snatcher had ran around a corner and stopped standing right next to him to catch his breath. Vimes had grabbed him and whispered "You just got nicked, son." and the poor man had needed a change of underwear.

Tonight, it had been quiet so far. Vimes stood in the lee of a phone booth out by the docks where the rain wasn't quite so bad, hunched his shoulders like so, lit a cigarette, and waited, looking to see what kind of characters would come out in the dark.

Comments

[forgottendecade]

The quiet rain was interrupted by the sound of a heavy motorcycle moving at a sedated pace through the dark streets. A slick looking motorcycle for the neighborhood, the rider looking a little less slick and more like the kind of drifter that drifted in and out of lock-up on a daily basis. He cruised to a stop by one building and consults his watch before turning off the engine and getting off. Cracking the knuckles of his right hand - sounding strangely like stiff metal and not flash - he then settles to wait against the wall, arms folded and head tucked down against the rain.

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

Vimes barely moved. But he shifted enough that he could get a better look at this guy. Anyone out on a night like tonight was probably up to something suspicious.

[forgottendecade]

It didn't take too long for another vehicle to appear. This one was a late model sedan of such normality it pretty much screamed that the owner was up to no good. It stopped and after a moment, the driver got out and moved to stand in front of the biker, who doesn't move even though the driver was head and shoulders taller, and his bulk seriously putting a strain on his clothing.

There was a brief exchange of words along the lines of who was early and who was late, and then the big guy moved over to the lock door and opened it, flicking on switches that floor the interior with light. The two moved inside, the big guy saying something about needing to move this stuff soon but the rest of the conversation was lost thanks to the distance and the rain.

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

Well well well. How about that. Vimes started slowly making his way around until he could make out the license plate of both vehicles and right them down.

[forgottendecade]

There was something odd about the motorcycle's license plate. It looked legit, but there was an odd little symbol on the plate, one that looked like a double-headed bird with a couple letters across the body. It was only visible because of the light from the open door had caught it just right. Then it was gone as the big guy's shadow fell over the bike as he squeezed out of the door.

"So, what do you think?" he was saying, waving a hand at the building.

"I'll have to think it over."

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

He reached for his radio to make a report of suspicious activity, but a faulty wire chose this moment to finally come loose, resulting in not a quiet beep but a max volume screech of static. Vimes flinched, then stepped behind the phone booth and prayed they hadn't heard him. "Blast!"

[forgottendecade]

Of course both men turned around at the noise. The big guy's hand went for his chest, where he grabbed at his shirt and breathed heavily while the slim Japanese guy smiled and started walking towards Vimes. It was not a hurried walk, not a threatening one either. If it wasn't for the rain and the fact that he looked like an extra from a crime drama movie, one could say that he was simply heading Vimes' way out of curiosity.

"Ah, hello?"

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

Of course.

Vimes stepped out from hiding observing. The important thing here was to keep them off balance. Vimes radiated as much police man as he could. It was a state of mind that said to other people that if you stood very still, made no sudden motions, and were completely honest, you MIGHT get out of this without getting into TOO much trouble, but that you were on thin ice. Any officer knew how to make people nervous. He flipped out his badge.

"Venture City Police. Mind if I ask what you were talking about?

[forgottendecade]

Both eyebrows rose and Joji looked back at the big man - who is thumping his chest and muttering about a heart attack - and then back at Vimes. He looked up at the sky and the rain clouds and thought about what it had sounded like. The irony wasn't lost on him as he starts to laugh and then tries to control himself.

"What do you think you were hearing, Officer?"

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

"Rather than speculate, I'd rather hear it from you. Any answers I come up with probably won't paint you out in a very good light right now."

[forgottendecade]

"I've been thinking of buying a building that has room enough for my own auto shop," he replied, still smiling and stuffing his left hand into the pocket of his jeans. "Mr. Matthews is showing me a couple foreclosed buildings that he wants to get rid of."

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

"At 3am? On an anonymous street corner in the rain?"

[forgottendecade]

"We were at a bar about a half hour ago," he said, shrugging. "And it seemed like a good idea at the time."

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

"I see..."

The beast sniffed the air...then went back to sleep. Nothing was happening here, and Joji's words rang true. Vimes looked marginally less like he was going to arrest someone on the spot.

[whoneedsdepthperception]

When there is no one else around, a face that has become all too common this week steps out of the shadows.

"Good evening, officer."

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

Vimes' face very carefully did not show that his heart had just skipped a beat. He puffed on his cigarette

"Closer to morning at this point."

[whoneedsdepthperception]

[Slade does not acknowledge the correction. Instead, he holds out a flash drive.]

I have something that may be of interest to you.

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

Vimes did not immediately take it.

"Do you. And what interests me?"

[whoneedsdepthperception]

Slade's eye narrows.

"All the data I have collected on Dr. Devious's behavioral patterns, a map of the movements of her robots, and more. It should help you narrow down the search for her device, assuming you are at all competent."

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

He ignored the competence comment. Or at least he didn't comment on it himself.

"I don't suppose it's too much to hope that you are giving this up freely as part of a citizen's civic duty to supply the police useful information they have on the whereabouts of known felons?"

AKA: the enemy of my enemy

[whoneedsdepthperception]

"Heh. If I cared about that, I would be turning myself in, now wouldn't I?

However, all I ask in exchange for the information is that you don't waste it. Dr. Devious's plans are interfering with my own, so the more she is hampered the better."

Can still be my enemy, but maybe I won't go for his throat JUST now

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

"A guy can dream."

He reached out to take the flash drive. As much as he hated dealing with someone like Slade, the information would be VERY useful, if it were legit.

Re: Can still be my enemy, but maybe I won't go for his throat JUST now

[whoneedsdepthperception]

"Based on the patterns, you may wish to start your search near the High School.

Good night, officer."

Slade casually walks into an unlit alley and disappears.

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

It felt wrong to not Give Chase, but...

Devious was a more immediate threat. Vimes pocketed the flash drive, after taking a minute to manage to unclench his fists.

[rose_liberated]

It was late, true. And it was raining. But Rozalin had been unable to sleep, wakened by nightmares, and thus had taken her umbrella and wandered out for a stroll.

But now she was lost, and she had left her little phone with the map in it on her dresser, looking around for some landmark-any landmark to guide her back to the apartment. And even if she had dressed down for the occasion, she was still a beautiful woman out and about on a dark and rainy night.

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

Vimes loomed out of the darkness, but with as unthreatening a face as he could manage. This wasn't say much, as the only reason people couldn't describe Vimes as disgruntled was that he was never gruntled in the first place.

"Are you lost, miss?"

[rose_liberated]

Perhaps Vimes shouldn't have been so intimidating looking-because when he loomed out of the dark, Rozalin reached for a pocket with a suspicious looking lump. A sort of rectangular one that hinted at a rather dangerous moment here.

Still, she held back. "I'm afraid I did get turned around a bit."

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

Hmm. Going for some sort of weapon. Sensible precaution for the time of night, but a little odd when she was facing someone clearly dressed as a police officer.

"Where are you trying to go?"

[rose_liberated]

She relaxed a bit, but kept her hand on the comforting presence of her handgun.

Still, it might be best to trust the somewhat scraggly officer of the law for now. "100 Venture Park Avenue." Nothing important. Just one of the most expensive addresses in the city.

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

"Park Ave? You're on the completely wrong side of town!"

Of course it's never good news.

[zerotodoro]

Dororo kept strange hours - mainly because at this hour of night, most Pekoponjins are asleep and thus he's less likely to startle someone. The rain? He's actually enjoying it very much, wearing the child-sized poncho only to ward off the chill - and to hide his face if someone was out there. If he were a less disciplined person, he would outright be dancing in the puddles - but at any rate, he wasn't observing his surroundings as closely as he should.

"Ahn?"

He slows down as he noticed Vimes in the distance. The rain was too heavy to make the invisibility barrier useful, and the docks were surprisingly open tonight, giving him very few places to hide. Then - Dororo decided, he'll try to not draw too much attention, pretend he's a child on his way home.

[fabricati_diem_pvnc]

A child on his way home at 3am, far away from any area with lots of homes. Yes.

Vimes approached to see just what was going on. "Excuse me."

[zerotodoro]

Whoops.

Running would cast more suspicion on himself, and the police man doesn't seem to hold hostile intent. So Dororo stood his ground, lowering his head - waiting to see what Vimes would do.