[center] [i]Collab with [@JulienJaden] [/i] [/center] [center] [img] http://www.diepost.info/uploads/pics/Restaurant_2_03.jpg [/img] [/center] The Pale Veil was a place on the fancy side, as was to be expected of Dawn Peak Heights. Cain hadn't eaten at a restaurant like this in months; not because he couldn't afford it but because he didn't like them. Establishments like this had a tendency to not only be meeting places for the rich and famous or the powerful and their agents, namely him, but they all too often also had a hidden purpose, for example catering to more... exotic tastes. An innocent-looking restaurant like this could be a cover for a bordello or a blood den. That made asking questions at a place like this particularly dicey. Not that he had much of a choice. So, Cain had given up his coat at the entrance and his gun was hidden under his jacket, now sitting comfortably in a quiet corner of the relatively empty restaurant - it was only around noon, after all - and watched as a young blonde walked towards him with his meal. [color=lightgreen]"Here you are, sir"[/color], she said with a polite smile as she sat down the tray. [color=lightgreen]"A steak, medium, with seasonal vegetables on the side and a quarter of Trollinger."[/color] [color=lightblue]"Thank you"[/color], Cain returned the smile as he watched her set his table, filled his glasses with wine and water. [color=lightgreen]"Enjoy your meal."[/color] She turned to leave. [color=lightblue]"Would you sit with me for a moment?"[/color] The question must have been unexpected but how quickly she recovered spoke volumes of how many proposals of this and probably even more indecent nature she had to deal with on a daily basis. [color=lightgreen]"I'm afraid I have to wo-"[/color] [color=lightblue]"Don't worry, I have no ulterior motive."[/color], Cain interrupted with a persistent smile. [color=lightblue]"I'm just a lonely elderly guy who'd like some company while he eats, that's all."[/color] The blonde chewed on her bottom lip and looked around, making sure that nobody was vying for her attention. Didn't Valorie do that too sometimes? Maybe she might have worked in a place like this too, if it wasn't for Kennedy or her knack for necromancy. Francis pressed on. [color=lightblue]"Some smalltalk, a sip of water, I'm not asking for much - and you'll walk away with a nice tip in your backpocket. It's not terribly busy right now anyway, is it?"[/color] She nervously looked around once more as he cut into the meat and enjoyed his first mouthful of incredibly pricy and unbelievably tender steak, but by the time he reached for his wine glass, she had pulled back a chair next to him and sat down. [color=lightblue]"You look a little intimidated."[/color] [color=lightgreen]"My boss is kinda anal about taking breaks"[/color], she murmured. Cain chuckled and was rewarded with a careful smile by the blonde. [color=lightblue]"Salute"[/color], he wished her as he took a healthy gulp of the off-dry wine and nodded, satisfied. [color=lightblue]"What's your name?"[/color] [color=lightgreen]"Anna."[/color] [color=lightblue]"As pretty as you."[/color] It was a cheesy thing to say but the way he said it or maybe the situation caused her to grin sheepishly as the brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. It was always a boost for his ego when he didn't have to use magic at all to have this effect. [color=lightblue]"And how long have you been working for your anal boss?"[/color] Between a little charm here and a bit of humor there, she began to relax. [color=lightgreen]"I don't know, a couple of months? I kinda lost track of time; I've been tired a lot and today was particularly bad."[/color] [color=lightblue]"How so?"[/color] The blonde shrugged. [color=lightgreen]"Well, my colleague Stephanie up and vanished about halfway through our shift yesterday night. She didn't let anyone know, just... left, I guess, so I had to cover for her yesterday [b]and[/b] today."[/color] [color=lightblue]"Curious"[/color], he murmured, a forkfull of vegetables giving him a moment to think. [color=lightgreen]"Yeah... Well, it's not first time that's happened here. It's not the kind of job you wanna do forever."[/color] Cain nodded. [color=lightblue]"I know what you mean. By the way"[/color], he reached into his inside pocket, [color=lightblue]"I'm trying to get back in touch with a friend of mine. I've been told that she visits the Pale Veil every now and then"[/color], he took out the photograph and sat it on the table before her. [color=lightblue]"Have you seen this woman recently?"[/color] The waitress' nervous gaze drifted over the photo, lingering on woman's dull grey eyes. There was a slight, almost unnoticeable twitch in Anna's face, like something was tugging at the corner of her mouth with a fish hook. [color=lightgreen]" "She was here a few nights ago," [/color] Anna said with a slight pause, as though she were choosing her words carefully [color=lightgreen]" "I remember her...she ordered a starter, then threw a big hissy fit when it arrived, and demanded to see the manager." [/color] A look of worry fluttered across Anna's features. [color=lightgreen] "Sorry, that wasn't worded very delicately...ehrrm, I'm sure her complaint was valid!" [/color] [color=lightblue]"No, that's quite alright"[/color], Cain laughed, [color=lightblue]"'hissy fit' does sound like her."[/color] A well-placed lie made all the difference when it came to credibility. He ate another bite of steak before continuing his line of inquiry. [color=lightblue]"What happened next? I hope she didn't insult you or the manager too much?"[/color] [color=lightgreen]"I t-tried to calm her down," [/color] Anna fidgeted with her hands, compulsively sliding her fingers together [color=lightgreen]"but I think that just upset her more. The manager -REALLY- doesn't like to be disturbed...probably has some kind of authority complex, so we're not supposed to bother them unless its an emergency. Not that I've ever needed to before." [/color] The waitress cast one glance off to the side, before leaning in closer to Cain, lowering her voice to a hushed whisper. [color=lightgreen] "This isn't me trying to plug the restaurant, but...the food here is -GOOD-, like -REALLY- good." [/color] she had an awkward staring contest with a table napkin, before regaining her composure. [color=lightgreen]"Its creepy, like, we -NEVER- have complaints, but this girl really wanted to see the manager."[/color] Anna gave a nervous little laugh, which sounded as though it were lodged in the back of her throat and she was trying desperately to force it out [color=lightgreen]"I guess that's why it stuck in my head. I've worked in restaurants before, but I've never seen anyone be this persistent. She started off like any other stuck-up, ehrmm sorry, customer making a complaint, but by the end of it its almost like she was...panicking. Like she'd drawn -TOO MUCH- attention to herself." [/color] [color=lightblue]"Well, she [i]is[/i] excentric and... honestly, a little paranoid too"[/color], he said with an understanding nod. [color=lightblue]"But you don't need to tell me about the food - I'm already convinced."[/color] He was already almost done with his meal and the aging private detective didn't have to lie about the quality of the food: It was genuinely great and a true blessing after several days with nothing but hotdogs, slices of pizza or other food-to-go to keep him sated. Between running his errand for Bloodbloom and his other obligations, he had barely had the time to sit down and have a quiet moment to himself, other than those ten minutes at home before Valorie came in and his angry brooding was interrupted by a strange conversation and some of the most guilt-inducing and, at the same time, most pleasurable sex he had had in ages. [color=lightblue]"In fact... I [b]do[/b] feel bad about her causing a scene and badmouthing the restaurant's food and service, especially after the delicious meal and"[/color], he raised his wine glass to her, [color=lightblue]"pleasant company I enjoyed."[/color] She gave him a nervous smile but the topic and time she had spent sitting here were taking their toll and he knew that his time with her was almost up either way. [color=lightblue]"Here, for you"[/color], he said, reciprocating her smile as he handed her a fifty-dollar bill, on top two other twenties to pay the bill. [color=lightblue]"Consider it an apology for my friend and a token of gratitude for talking to an old man."[/color] Cain found himself reminded of Valorie again as the waitress' eyes widened and warily shot back and forth between the bill and his face, not quite trusting the motive behind somebody giving her a tip this big, but she reached out and pocketed it nonetheless, not before looking over her shoulder again. [color=lightblue]"Would you please send the manager to me, too?"[/color] The color drained from her face instantly. [color=lightgreen]"I... I don't think that's-"[/color] [color=lightblue]"I insist"[/color], Cain cut her off, his tone amicable but firm and his eyes locked with hers, staring her down until she looked away and nodded. [color=lightblue]"Thank you. And, if I may offer my advice? You should quit. Work in a place like this has a tendency to... [i]eat at you[/i]. I'm sure you can find something better, Anna."[/color] She turned and walked away without a response or meeting his eyes again. He didn't know if she'd take his suggestion seriously. Odds were that the other waitress, Stephanie, was dead or being whored out somewhere and that Anna would be sharing her fate soon, but by the time she got to the manager's office, she would no longer remember their conversation or what he looked like - she wouldn't even remember what he had ordered or where the extra fifty dollars in her pocket came from, other than them being a generous tip. Cain had written a few runes on the bill, a simple form of mind manipulation without which his guarantee of handling a search like this discreetly would have been almost ridiculously stupid. Of course, runes were not exactly easy to overlook and anybody even remotely knowledgeable in the arcane arts would have been able to identify them for what they were, if modern chemistry hadn't come the aid of spies and mages everywhere: As it turned out, invisible ink was as good as regular one for drawing runes and made his work and life a lot easier. The only caveat was that spells without sacrifice like this only worked on people of weak will and no inherent magic. An elf or an orc would be a little confused by this but their memory would be largely unaffected. On the flipside, this property made their blood a more powerful magical reagent than that of humans. While he waited, he flipped over the photograph and, with a pen from his inside pocket, refreshed the invisible runes on the back of the photo, murmuring along and pricking himself in the finger as a tiny offering. The spell had worked nicely on the waitress, the rune for 'truth' beckoning her to share a little more information than she might have otherwise and the one for 'lie' making what he offered in return seem a little more believable. The game he was playing was a dangerous one; if his target had desperately wanted to talk to the manager, it was fairly likely that they knew each other, which made it all the more necessary for this spell to work and help him out, if he wanted to keep this investigation low-profile. And for that to work, the manager would need to touch the photo. Not one to overcomplicate things when the simple solution was likely to work best, he put the photograph down a little to his right, where Anna had sat, and covered most of it with a napkin, 'accidentally' covering it. It was sure to catch the attention of whoever came down to see him and as he sipped on the rest of his wine, Cain, hoped that his second interview of the day would go as well as the first.