Round 84: The Kidnapping of Tiffany Jamesson

[midpointmods]

PLAYERS: Isamu Fuwa, Quicksword Irene, Hajime Aikawa VS. Bucky Barnes, Daylight vis Lornlit, Inara Serra
LOCATION: Tycoons' Depot
GOAL: Assume and maintain custody of Tiffany Jamesson
WARNINGS: Kidnapping, attempted murder, sex work mentions
OTHER: OOC post for plotting and questions!

After traveling most of the day, the sun is starting to set when the two teams reach Tycoons' Depot. Who arrives first depends on how quickly the teams get up and organized that morning, and how hard they want to push their horses.

The active portion of the round doesn’t start until the next morning, anyway. After scouting around and making plans, everyone can enjoy a room at the Bullion Inn under the watchful eye of the Madame (for a crisp points price, of course), camp rough just outside town, or bully or bribe one of the locals into letting them borrow their home for the night. Looking around proves there are, in fact, a number of possibly empty houses around the town’s outskirts, if the players would like to brave one of those.

In the morning, it’s time to go. Tiffany Jamesson, a sixteen year old girl with a brilliant smile and auburn hair done up in ringlets, has horseback riding at nine in full-on cowgirl attire, lunch at noon and piano lessons at one in a yellow dress of frothy lace, a nap from three to four when the day is at its hottest, and then dinner with her father at six in a pretty pink affair before retiring for the night afterwards. When will the kidnappers strike? When will the protectors show their hand? The teams have three days in which to accomplish their goal. The clock is ticking.

Comments

[ragingwolf]

[I. Arrival]

Fuwa had told his team last night, that they're going to be leaving early - he wants the greatest chance possible to scope out their target, actively protect her, and be prepared for whoever might be trying to steal her from them.

They leave as the sun starts coming up over the horizon, and arrive as the worst of the heat starts baking into their clothes, before the sun quite sets.

And Fuwa's first task, once he gets his horse situated in the local stables, is lead his team and approach their mark with all of his usual brusque politeness. "Miss Jamesson? You're the kidnapping mark for this round - we're your bodyguards."

[II. Evening]

Funnily enough, being someone's bodyguard was exactly what Fuwa was doing before he got trapped in all this mess. It's not exactly fresh in his mind anymore, but the point is he has formal experience, which he sorely feels like Hajime is missing. Which means he's taking the time, late in the evening, to explore the young woman's schedule in advance.

Every now and then on his patrol he stops, holds a hand to the Bluetooth-style earpiece he's constantly wearing, and seems to be... talking to someone. Which is markedly unusual, since no one else has a second earpiece like that.

"How about around here? ...really, not even that one? ...got it." And then he moves on.

[III. On Guard]]]

Fuwa has claimed an abandoned house as his base of operations. He can't afford the Bullion Inn for an entire round. He's stashed his usual coat in there, trading up for a dark brown leather vest and long coat, black shirt and dark chaps over his slacks, and a hat to hide the worst of his wavy hair. He still has his earpiece on, his ShotRiser and its belt tucked under his vest, and is trying to keep a subtle distance from his mark while still keeping a clear line of action if he needs to access her quickly. It's going to be a tricky two weeks, but he thinks they've got this.

Honestly, he's more worried about the other team trying something on them rather than them going for Tiffany, so he's keeping an eye out where he can. He's only human, though - he can't keep an eye on every direction at once.

I. Tiffany

[pennycopper]

It's impossible to find Tiffany Jamesson until the morning after they arrive. She's locked up safely in her house all night, and not accepting visitors.

However, if Fuwa and the other come by first thing in the morning, before her riding lesson, they can catch her at breakfast. She looks, if anything, kind of annoyed at the interruption, rolling her eyes and everything. (Also, she is definitely not sixteen, despite the careful curls and the girlish gown.) "Wow. Polite, aren't you. I can't believe the butler even let you in. I have things to do today, mister bodyguard."

[ragingwolf]

Oh good, he dislikes her already. He wonders if she'll be more or less infuriating than Delmo.

"We have higher authority than your butler," he says, shifting to put his hands in his pockets. "And we don't plan on stopping you from leaving. The three of us will be taking turns guarding you during your daily routine."

[pennycopper]

"Three? I don't see three of you." She looks past him pointedly. They appear to have lost Hajime at some point. "And you don't look like you have a higher authority than Daddy's butler."

[ragingwolf]

"--what?"

He turns sharply to look back. Irene is unmistakeable, but Hajime...

...is nowhere to be fucking seen.

Fuwa's fists curl automatically. That bastard...

[givemyrightarm]

Irene's expression is as unreadable as ever. "He had something else he needed to attend to," she says, completely deadpan.

She turns her attention to the girl, and while her expression doesn't change, her tone softens somewhat. "Have there been threats against you before?"

[pennycopper]

There's a split second where Tiffany looks surprised at the question before she visibly turns up the arrogant smile and flaps a hand lightly. "Well, of course. Daddy is very rich, you know, and bandits looking for ransom are at times a problem. But he always pays."

[givemyrightarm]

Irene notices the lapse, but says nothing about it for now. She also doesn't look remotely impressed by the girl's bragging. "Fortunate," is her only comment to that.

"Still, I can't imagine the experience is enjoyable for you."

[pennycopper]

Likeable isn't really in the job description, here-- whatever makes this a better show is. And these two aren't exactly high on the charisma scale. "Neither is being kept locked up by bodyguards," she points out haughtily. "If you want to follow me around, fine. But don't think I'm going to let you keep me here all day with nothing to do."

[ragingwolf]

"We don't plan on it," Fuwa says, having finally gotten a grip on his temper. "We're aware you have a schedule that you follow, and part of our protective service is making sure you can do that peacefully."

He's still going to smack Hajime later for making this harder for them. "We may need to completely reorganise it on some days, though - it's likely that your kidnappers know your schedule as well. You won't know which until we say so."

[givemyrightarm]

"Having to stay in hiding for any lengh of time is hard, especially if you're not used to it." Irene knows that from experience... although if this has happened multiple times - if this story has happened multiple times - then Tiffany probably knows that from experience as well.

But she's curious about these other incidents now. If everything here is for entertainment, then how many times has this story played out for her? "Your father has hired other bodyguards in the past, presumably."

[pennycopper]

"Sure he did. And half the time they were worse than the kidnappers." She finishes her morning coffee and picks herself up in a sweep of skirts. "I'm not missing dinner with Daddy. He'll be very upset. If you want to reorganize everything else, we can talk about it."

She flicks her skirts into place, and puts on a winsome smile. It's a very good smile, sweet and warm, even if patently fae. "Now. What are your names? If you're going to be hovering all the time, we ought to be introduced."

[ragingwolf]

Fuwa tilts his head back a little, like it makes him look tough. "I'm Fuwa. This is Irene," he adds, nodding his head at the Claymore. "And our third member is Hajime."

[givemyrightarm]

Irene doesn't have a lot of hope that they won't be worse than the kidnappers. At the very least, they're almost certainly coming off as completely inept right now. "Worse in what ways?"