As Lovely made their way to the enterance of the Icehouse, they noticed two adults standing there. Headhunter and Chatterbox they would assume, judging by their builds. They probably ought to have dressed down too, come to think of it, but they supposed it didn't matter all that much since they weren't wearing anything armored.
"Nice of you to join me, soldier." Lovely said, greeting Headhunter. As Chatterbox eyed them though, they gave a more professional response.
"Ah. I see you're here too. We'd best be off, yes?"Raymond nodded toward Love Craft with his arms folded and his face set in a relatively stern expression. 'We probably should, yes. I will say,' he added, 'I don't want to be mistaken as an unsavoury individual of any sort, considering our visible differences, so if anybody asks, you're my step-niece and step-nephew respectively.' This would be to help deal with the sort of people- blessedly rare as they were compared to even ten years ago- who disliked black people, and would surely raise a fuss if one was seen with two substantially younger individuals of much different race to himself. They'd probably be just as upset about an implied interracial marriage, but better that than accusations of sexual assault and pedophilia. That said, he began walking away from the Icehouse building, figuring that for right now, any direction was probably fairly good for attempting to find Arsenal.
Making a mock salute at Lovecraft as he said they ought to depart, he made a note of the formality behind his words in comparison to how the cape had greeted Headhunter. In fact, the action elicited a small
"Heh," from him before he turned his attention to Headhunter as he spoke up. After hearing him out, he nodded, a slightly amused smile on his lips, Drake followed Raymond, assigning a pseudo-leadership role to the man even though Lovecraft had suggested the outing.
Walking more or less alongside their mercenary companion, Drake spoke up, his tone casual.
"So any ideas as to how we locate this fellow?"Quickly redirecting some of the, frankly out of place, muscle into added height to match the two adults they were tagging along with, Lovely too joined Chatterbox in walking alongside Headhunter.
"Aww, so I can't call you 'daddy'? A shame. Anywho, I suppose just walking towards the inner city is our best bet. Broker didn't seem to include any possible leads but he has a fairly distinctive appearance." Lovely explained, taking the letter out of their pocket to examine it. Must have contained the new member's pay. Maybe a description of tomorrow's job, too. If so, Lovely would be sure to take a look. They actually hadn't seen what they were going to be doing tomorrow. Slipping the letter back into their chaps in favor of the photograph of their mark, Lovely handed it over to Headhunter.
"You're good at tracking people right? Where would a young man like that be if he had just entered a city?"Finding himself rather pleased by Lovecraft's words, Drake chuckled to himself, though he knew they weren't joking about calling Headhunter
daddy. Still, it was pretty ludicrous. As the androgynous cape went on, Drake raised an eyebrow, letting them finish before he spoke again.
"Inner city sounds as good as anywhere else. Upside, is I can always use my charms to convince people to remember if they've seen anyone of his...distinctive appearance. So there's that."Raymond coughed somewhat uncomfortably at the word "daddy" - obviously not meant in the sense of a parent-child relationship, and with how Love Craft apparently went about in general, he could hardly tell whether the flirting was genuine or not. Even so, as he was handed the photograph, he considered the possible options. He was trained in tracking down targets, both in the field and under more urbane conditions, though not on such minimal information or within such a short timeframe.
In a pinch, the inner city seemed like a reasonable choice. 'I think I'm inclined to agree with... pardon me, I don't believe I got your name?' he murmured, turning to Chatterbox. He didn't really want to use his cape name when he was out of costume, and figured if he could get the young adult to reveal his real name, he might end up with some leverage later on. 'In any case, that'd be where a large portion of Denver's crime is committed, so I imagine he's either involved in or attempting to prevent it. Presumably the former, but you never know.'
Drake glanced towards Headhunter as he agreed and then inquired about his name. He tilted his sunglasses down, peering over them to give the man a pointed look before returning them to their former position, smiling, and ignoring him for a time.
"Yes it would make sense that he would be there." He seemed to think for a moment before glancing at Headhunter,
"Call me James, mmm?" He beamed at him for a moment before looking away, eyes aimed forwards.
Frankie considered "James's" statement for a moment. It was probably a fake name, all things considered. When a known assassin asked your name, it wasn't a good idea to be truthful. Still, it was something to call him out of costume, so for now, it was good enough.
"Well, if we're all trading names, I'm Fran." Frankie lied, a cartoon-y grin on their face.
"What's yours, soldier? I'm not the kind to kiss and tell, so you have nothing to worry about." They joked. Honestly, Headhunter's real name didn't matter to Lovely all that much, but they needed to call them something when they weren't wearing a mask. Even if they could easily change their face, they didn't want to lose their new job or place, and being associated with a well known criminal was a good way to get evicted.
The name was obviously fake. If "James" had really been caught out, he'd have given the name almost immediately, rather than taking a second to think about it. "Fran" also seemed to be lying, their name again preceded by a moment of thought. It might be an idea to figure out who they really were later on. That said, he needed to provide his own name now... fake, again, but maybe he could trick them with a more complete name. Probably not, but it was worth a shot. 'Jack Selser,' he stated, using a pseudonym that he'd abandoned some time in the past when out on prior missions, and which he ought to have dropped, but it was the first name to slide easily off his tongue. 'Glad to know we're all being honest.'
Frankie openly giggled at "Jack's" comment.
"Of course, of course." They commented, strolling a bit ahead of the two men for just a moment.
"Well, I doubt we can use each others hobbies against one another. Do either of you have anything particularly interesting you do?" They asked, a bit curious as to what a hired murderer and someone as egotistical as Chatterbox did in their free time. Frankie was betting on 'reading' or 'woodcarving' for Jack and some sort of public speaking for James. His power off, obviously, just to prove to himself that he was sly or something like that.
"I myself enjoy sweet foods as a sort of gourmet. Though I doubt you could tell by my figure." Frankie explained, shaking their hips in a suggestive manner for emphasis.
Once again, Raymond couldn't really tell whether "Fran" was flirting as a joke, or in a serious fashion. Either way, he couldn't help but glance at their backside as they shook their hips, before forcing himself to stare straight ahead. He had standards that he held potential partners to; unfortunately, Fran was meeting all of them, at least in terms of physique. But that was neither here nor there. 'I build scopes,' he offered in response to Fran's question. 'I got good at that to help my career. And yes, they are hideously complex to work with.'
James chuckled to himself, ignoring 'Fran's' behavior for the most part. He was about as interested as Fran was in him.
"I do stand-up comedy," he said simply in response to Fran's question. He glanced around, before continuing,
"I tend to switch venues frequently, some with my charms, some without. I figure it's best to expand my influence while also doing what I love." He shrugged a bit, glancing at Fran before looking to 'Jack'.
"Scopes, eh? Interesting choice of hobby, though I suppose it makes sense...considering." He smiled slightly, almost as if amused by some inside joke.
Frankie smiled. They were pretty close with their assumption on both of the men's hobbies. Scope building was certainly quite interesting. Standup comedy was quite obvious though, though Frankie was quite surprised that only sometimes he used his ability. Frankie figured him as a fairly all or nothing guy, but it seemed he may have been able to cut their losses.
There was a slight silence after James's comment, which no one seemed to want to fill. As talkative as two out of three of the group were, it seemed they didn't have much to talk about. Or maybe they just didn't trust eachother enough yet. They were all using fake names, after all. Something impersonal to talk about...
"Ahh, what do you suppose we call this little gang? Since James wants to make a name for himself, I assume we want something catchy. Any suggestions, gentlemen?"'"The Gentlemen" isn't a bad start,' Raymond offered, 'if not for the lack of gentlemanly conduct and distinct presence of at least one female party. Not that the additional irony wouldn't be appreciated.' He stroked his beard for a moment, frowning as he thought of the possibilities, as well as allowing a convenient opportunity for a couple of civilians to pass by without their overhearing anything. 'The Takers, perhaps, since that seems to be what we're doing with ourselves? Undertakers, maybe, but for minimising our death tolls.'
The name of their little gang, mmm.... Drake was quiet, though he did glance at Fran, acknowledging their question, before his eyes moved back to watch their path and search for anything unusual. He gave a sidelong glance at 'Jack' as he spoke, before his eyes returned to their former position. He ran over what sorts of capes, and people, Broker had brought together.
'A quiet girl who can ignore things; A comedian with a hypnotic voice; An assassin with impossibly perfect aim; An androgynous shapeshifter scientist; and...a tinker with a sombrero.' He smirked a bit as he considered the last two, before something clicked in his mind and he spoke.
"What about the Misfits?" he suggested casually before his voice rang out again,
"...or perhaps Bohemian?" he offered as an alternative. While he liked 'the Gentlemen,' it was a bit too ironic for his tastes, whereas 'the Takers,' was just a bit...well, stupid, in his opinion.
Frankie listened to their allies suggestions with a sort of blank, but attentive look on their face. None of them popped. The Gentlemen was very ironic- too ironic for Lovely's taste. Takers or Undertakers were silly, Misfits generic and Bohemian pretentious. What they needed was something simple, clean, and unique. Wracking their brain for such a concept, they looked over at both James and Jack to see if they had any other ideas. But then, it hit them.
"Ah, the Jacks! We do a little of everything, right? It's a nice, simple, catchy name, but not silly or unable to be taken seriously." They suggested, a glint in their eye. They were a bit proud of coming up with the idea honestly, even if there were important things to do.
"Hmm, I like that more," Drake replied, nodding his head thoughtfully, before smiling.
"I think it fits best, and it's certainly catchy enough." He glanced at 'Jack,' wondering what he thought.
'That sounds like it's setting myself up for a leadership role,' Raymond noted. 'Though in fairness, it's probably better than the Takers. Now that I think about it, that seems odd at best.' He frowned again for a moment, then had an abrupt and suspicious thought, and glanced toward the two others. '...
are you two trying to set me up as leader? "Leader", rather, but the person with the biggest target on them nonetheless.' There was a good reason he'd avoided notoriety to the best of his ability before the Broker approached him: well-known assassins, at least outside of the right fields, tend to die quickly. If it became known that the Headhunter was "heading" a cape organisation, two and two would be put together very quickly indeed, and his life would become far more difficult than it already was.
Drake glanced at the assassin, raising a brow,
"Hardly," he said bluntly in response.
"Yes," Lovely agreed, in reply to James.
"You're Headhunter on the clock, remember? Though I suppose putting a man with your attitude in charge makes the most sense. I'd be willing to take any heat for you, since that seems to be the issue. I'm more of a front-line fighter after all."'...fair enough,' Headhunter conceded. 'It's my job to be observant, though perhaps not to the point of undue paranoia, for which I apologise.' And speaking of observation, he'd noticed that they'd gotten to the inner city reasonably quickly... and moreover, that what sounded like a very heated gun battle was taking place relatively nearby. 'Gunfire,' he stated bluntly. 'Do we think that's our guy?'
"Well if it isn't," Lovely stated with a perky expression,
"Then it'll lead us to him."
Member
Fallenreaper
Snowdrops
Taka
Dark Jack
Crimson Flame
Danyel
Kalas
HeMandaddy
Lord Zee
