[OOM - The City of Lights] + A Return

[zenigatcha]

“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life.” – Thomas Jefferson

The door to the bar pushes out from a small apartment in Lyon. Voices crowd out of the door before the men there do, asking about this or that, has someone picked up such and such, until finally Wei Wuxian is shooed through, carting a couple of bags with the big Inspector Zenigata behind him, equally laden out with gifts. They immediately stop at the bar, starting to sort things out.

"Macarons for anyone who likes them," Zenigata says and sets them on the bar with a scribbled note for 'Free, enjoy!'

"Wine for good friends," Wei Wuxian says as he puts that on the bartop. There are gifts he has for others, but they won't be delivered by the bar, he'll handle those himself. 

Zenigata, however, is not that chuffed about it.. A bottle of wine is but aside for Abe no Seimei, and he backs up a little box on the table, coffee and a French press for Cassian, with a little book about it.

"I think we're settled," Wei Wuxian said. "At least with the things we're leaving for the Bar."

"Good," Zenigata said, before he turned to the two biggest bags. "Now, let's haul this stuff into the kitchen for Sunshine-chan, and leave her a surprise!"  It cannot be emphasized enough: Sunshine definitely got the best gifts of all; fancy flours, new pastry bags, frosting tips, the works. She's been so good to them, and sometimes it's nice to be very, very good back. It's all beribboned, with a drawing of Sunshine care of Wei Wuxian, and placement care of Zenigata.

Once they're all settled, Zenigata comes out to sit at the bar, grab a macaron, and relax. Wei Wuxian waves his goodbyes and heads out the door to find his friends -- after all, Lan Zhan rarely comes inside, Wen Qing might still be skittish, and who can say where Wen Ning will be found?




[OOC: Encounter them together while they're inside, Zenigata alone at the bar when Wei Wuxian has left, or Wei Wuxian outside the bar! Just specify in the tags!

If you're friends with Zenigata, assume you get at least a bottle of wine, if not anything more specific mentioned here. Wei Wuxian will hand-deliver his important gifts.]

Comments

[For Wei Wuxian]

[thesecondjade]

He absolutely should be in bed right now. Asleep, hands folded, very still, flat on his back. It is past nine and he has found himself with his guqin out by the woods, far from the door. He had read and studied and played until there was no light, and then he had played as the stars blinked into being. There is a lantern on a stick nearby, but he ignores it.

Right now, as far as the bar from possible, Lan Zhan sits and stews in discontent. His guqin has been sent away, and he leans back against the tree and lets the light in. He has no desire to play his guqin anymore today, but he hums a little bit -- a melody only one other soul will recognize, restful and sweet.

Re: [For Wei Wuxian]

[alongfallfromgrace]

Wei Ying had hoped, perhaps naively, that Lan Zhan would be in the gardens. Or maybe even on the porch. Somewhere out in the open, easy to come across, easy to interrupt. But his luck is poor, it seems. He follows the sound of a song he knows so well, but could not name.

And there he is, beautiful as ever. Wei Ying pauses, leaning against a tree, to take in the sight.

[thesecondjade]

It's unsual to see him in repose-- he still dressed, guan on. This is almost repose for him, though. Limbs loose, he is downright casual in a way that he doesn't often let himself be seen.

But eventually he moves, pinching the bridge of his nose, before he takes up a book from the grass, positioning under the lantern for the best light. He reads for about ten seconds, before he puts it back down. The bridge-pinch gets repeated.

Someone can't keep his mind on his work tonight, even though he can't sleep, either.

[skyhigh_seance]

"Hey man, good vintage." Klaus is sprawled in one of the armchairs, examining his very unexpected prize. "You want some of this?"

[zenigatcha]

"If you mean to share, certainly!" Zenigata says, pushing away from the bar and coming over to the armchairs, where he takes a comfortable one and makes it his own.

"How have you been, my friend?" He's in good spirits right now, downright genial.

[skyhigh_seance]

"Oh, you know, new day, new shit." Klaus drawls, sending a wait rat to fetch some glasses. "You'll never guess who showed up."

[childofrebellion]

Cassian enters not long after them, he's feeling tired as he's been dealing with various informants in tricky positions, and there's only so much he can do.

When he reaches the counter and the coffee, press and book arrives, he blinks at them before starting to page through the book. Bar translates it for him and he gives the press a careful look over, maybe with this he can make some better caf.

Then he looks for Zenigata and his friend who aren't hard to miss and waves as he says, "Thank you."

[zenigatcha]

Zenigata tips his hat. "Certainly! Next time we're all stupidly hung over, we can have some coffee together."

[childofrebellion]

"Yes and I can make you chilaquiles, they're good hangover food. Where did you go on your trip?"

The coffee doesn't tell him enough about where they might be.

[alongfallfromgrace]

"Zenigata thought you'd like it. He's spent days now trying to convert me, but I'm afraid I still haven't seen the light." Zenigata lost that battle the moment Wei Ying tried espresso - brews that bitter should only exist as medicine.

[childofrebellion]

Cassian smiles and shrugs, "Not everyone does. I've met people who never drink caf, they have their own brews especially teas they prefer."

[sunbaked_baker]

Last night had been rough, and Sunshine had stayed in bed seeking more sleep long after her body had wakened her at what it felt was four a.m.

The sleep hadn't exactly been easy or restful, but by the time she dragged herself from bed and into the shower many hours later, she felt nearly human again. A brief trip outside on her way down via the outside bypass stairs - even weak autumnal sunlight is better than none - takes care of any lingering bruises and aches. So when she steps into the kitchens from the herb garden, she is surprised to find the bounty of gifts waiting for her there.

Soon enough, the door between the bar room and the kitchen is pushed open by the genuinely touched baker, holding the drawing of herself and looking for Zenigata and Wei Wuxian.

[alongfallfromgrace]

Wei Wuxian is at the Bar, taking his time over a bowl of deliciously spicy congee, having taken the night to rest after two days on the move. French food is truly wonderful, but sometimes you just want something familiar.

[zenigatcha]

Zenigata, in turn, is also at the bar, and he's eating his own version of Home Food; Japanese breakfast of pickled vegetables, grilled fish, rice and miso.

All in all it's a good, quiet moment. Companionable, even.

[yinyangwizard]

“Ah! Zenigata-keibu! And Wei Wuxian.” Seimei offers them a Japanese bow and a Chinese bow, respectively. Today he is wearing twenty-first-century clothes, appropriate to the fall weather. “I see you have been somewhere interesting.”

There are lots of wine bottles in evidence, so he’s guessing it was either France, Italy, or California.

[alongfallfromgrace]

Wei Wuxian bows politely, in return, though he's clearly doing that thing where you run into someone and you know you've heard their name before but you're hoping someone else will mention it because it's probably way too late to ask it again but it's just not coming and wow that's awkward. C'mon, Zenigata, help a boy out, he'll remember it this time for sure. Maybe.

[zenigatcha]

"Ah! Abe-san!" Zenigata the effusive and affectionate, he's happy to help Wei Ying out with the whole issue, being happy to bow back after his exclamation of his friend's name. "I just took Wei Wuxian out to France for a weekend. A day in Paris is good when the heart needs lifting. Would have preferred to let him see Tokyo, but..."

He shrugs. That's not where the door was, so that's not where they went.

For WWX

[undead_radish_seller]

Wen Ning is found outside, near the forge, chopping his way through an enormous stack of wood.

"Wei-gongzi!" he calls out, cheerfully waving his axe. "There you are -- I noticed you were gone. It's good to see you."

Re: For WWX

[alongfallfromgrace]

"Wen Ning!" Wei Wuxian grins, "Zenigata thought that my feet looked dusty, and took me on an adventure. He is in a land called France, which has many odd things, but some very tasty food, but! We found something for you."

[undead_radish_seller]

"Odd things like what?" Wen Ning asks, deciding not to home in on the words 'for you' just yet and delay the delight with stories of a different world at first, also delightful. "Tell me about the adventure!"

For Zenigata

[hat_and_dimples]

Jin Guangyao enters from the back, a bunch of beautiful red autumn leaves in his hand, a short while after Wei Wuxian left; he looks over his shoulder to make sure that the Yiling Laozu has really gone outside and is not going to come back soon before he closes the door and drifts towards the bar.

It's not that he is afraid of Wei Wuxian in any way; that would be preposterous. He just knows that turning up beside the man and ruining his mood would not just destroy the serenity and all-around pleasantness of this place, it would raise his resentment and suspicion, making it that much less likely for Jin Guangyao to get his hands on the Yin Tiger Seal for his father, either peacefully of by deceit, back in their world.

Unless this is not the Yiling Patriarch of his own world, but for that, he has no proof at all, merely Lecter-daifu's speculation; and before he doesn't know for certain either way, he's not going to provoke the man in here, in any way.

Today, Jin Guangyao is wearing less elaborate robes than the ones he came in with, fitting for an autumn walk, and is even doing without his hat. Impressing the squirrels and demon rabbits with the importance that hat confers would be overblown and ridiculous.

Then, he spots Zenigata and the plate of small colourful somethings on the bar and approaches a bit more purposefully, not 'away from' any more, but 'towards'.

"Zenigata-qianbei," he says, putting his hands together and bowing while still holding the bunch of autumn leaves.

[zenigatcha]

"Ah, hello, Jin Guangyao," Zenigata says as he relaxes at the bar. He straightens, bows, and retakes his seat. "Have a macaron! They're delicious and come in a wide variety of flavors!"

He's already starting to pat down his pockets, before he slides three narrow tins from them, each with a ribbon in red, white and blue.

"I took a day in Paris," he said, extending them in both hands (to use one hand would be terribly rude) as a gift. "So I brought gifts back to my friends here. These are tea blends from the countries far to the West of your Middle Kingdom, I hope you'll find them to your liking!"

[hat_and_dimples]

Jin Guangyao smiles, bows again, and says "Oh, you shouldn't have!" in the tone of voice of somebody completely delighted to be given a gift.

"Tea blends -- do tell!" he says as he pries the first tin open ('clever little containers!') and then fans the scent of the tea towards himself with three delicate fingers. "They smell unusual and interesting. What is this one?"

[lupintrois]

Lupin comes in a bit late to the situation and at first doesn't even notice he's here. The bar's starting to fill up with patrons. He orders his drink, flirts aimlessly with something vaguely female-shaped, consults his texts while walking back to his table, and it's only when he looks up that he makes formal eye contact with his pursuer and nemesis.

"Uh. Hi, Pops?"

[zenigatcha]

It was going so well, too.

Wei Wuxian had wandered off to find his friends, Sunshine had retreated to the kitchen and then perhaps off to rest, and Zenigata had handed out gifts and a couple of bottles of wine are still on the bar next to the macarons.

He's reaching for a delicately decadent lemon macaron when he notices an elbow on the bar, and a hairy hand with a cellphone on hand. Hairy hands he knows very well. He tracks the length of the arm with his eyes as his macaron slips a little between his fingers.

Once he's locked eyes with the thief, Zenigata drops it completely.

"Lupin?"

Excuse him a moment, the pin-point pressure of Lupin's appearance hasn't yet penetrated his happy bubble... but it's going to burst any second now.

"Son of a BITCH!"

Both Zenigata's fists slam down on the bartop, hard enough create a loud bang. A few yellow napkins pop up with angry requests that he not do that again, but Zenigata has already grabbed his hat from his head and is snarling, "GODDAMN IT ALL!" as he twists it in his hands.