[ti]Invite[/ti]Escaping the Gravity

Not long after Hazel had sat down and received her coffee and danish, a woman entered. She smiled at the waitress, speaking to her for a moment. Hazel looked down at her coffee, not her. But then the woman seemed to be making her way towards her. Hazel scanned the room quickly, four customers, two waiters on the floor, one behind the counter. The woman was still heading towards her little corner of the coffee shop. Shit. This must be her.

"Yeah... You too," Hazel tried to smile, but she only managed a smirk at the woman who seemed to now be putting on a show. She was good, whoever she was. Hazel had been fooled into thinking she was just another customer. She knew the waitress here, maybe she was a regular. At least the woman knew what a binary code was because Hazel had told her she'd wear a shirt with binary code on it so that she'd know it was her. It wasn't until the woman asked if she wanted to get to the details that she realized she'd been sizing her up. So this was the woman she'd talked to via electronic message. She looked young, probably around the same age as herself. She wasn't sure what to make of this woman, but something sketchy was definitely going on. She felt like red flags were going all over her brain and she was simply ignoring it. She was usually good at telling people, but this woman was difficult to figure out.

"Sure. Want a danish though? I always feel bad when I'm with someone and I'm eating and they're not," she looked at the woman's single cup of coffee. She hadn't ordered anything else except for it.

WC: 292
TAG: Nora Palladi

Hazel see it then, in that little moment where the woman experience a moment of confusion during her tight rope performance. That's how she saw her, a performer trying to do a difficult task that required skill, concentration, and a whole lot of nerve.

She took a bite of her danish while watching the woman take a piece from the plate with a fork. Hazel looked down at her own danish, she'd taken a whole piece and was eating it by taking bites. Like how one would eat a sandwich or a cookie.

"Cherry's my favorite," she smiled, licking off the sugar that had stuck to her finger tips.

Rich. The woman was rich. Only they did something as ridiculous as using a fork rather than hands for food clearly designed to be picked up. No wonder they'd met at this fancy coffee shop. It was probably the woman's favorite.

Hazel shook her head. The simple decor that didn't try too hard, the way the tables and seats were arranged in such a Feng shui style that made you feel at ease, it was a coffee shop for people who could afford luxury but didn't want to announce it to the world. "No, but I can tell why you like it so much Miss...?" Hazel's words hung in the air, waiting for the woman's words to join in and fill the spaces.

Wc: Mobile
Tag: Nora Palladi

Hazel's eyes flicked up at the woman's smile. She felt her lips twitch, was she...? No. She couldn't possibly. But Hazel had never been wrong before. Even if a woman wasn't specifically interested in other women, it didn't mean they opposed being with them at least for one night. Or a few hours. She wiped her fingers on a napkin and sat back on the chair. She propped one leg up on the chair and rested her elbow on her knee, her body sat back against the chair, and she allowed herself to relax and be more herself as she studied the woman in front of her. Brown hair that seemed to casually just create the perfect waves as if she naturally woke up like that. Cat like eyes that were quick and soft at the same time. Pouty lips-- Hazel licked her own lips, then looked the woman in the eyes.

Hazel adjusted in her seat slightly, "Really? I like actual cherries, too. It's hard to find them in the district now, but sometimes I'll get lucky. I specially like the ones that have just ripened, they're so... plump." Hazel smiled at the woman, her fingers playing with the mouth of her coffee cup.

She raised her brows when Lucia gave her name. She smirked and held out her hand towards her, "you don't look like a Lucia, but it's nice to meet you." It didn't surprise her that Lucia, or whatever her name was, had given her a false name. Elvira wasn't her name, only what people know her by when they needed a hacker. She'd had many names in the past. To her parents she was 'sweet baby'. To her siblings, she was Hazie. To the men that stole her and sold her, she was just another girl. To the man who bought her, she was 'sugar'. To all the men that had her, she was 'baby'. To Leo, she was his 'gift'. To herself, she was Tigerlily. It wasn't her real last name, it was one that she had given herself and made real when she created her new identity.

"Shall we get down to business?" Hazel asked, finally and took a sip of her coffee.

WC: 375
TAG: Nora Palladi

Lucia's hand was soft. She didn't have the hands of someone who worked as a laborer, why would she. If she could afford to live or work around this area, she had other people to do the labor for her. Hazel liked the way her hand felt. It was so different compared to touching a man's hand. Softer, smaller, more fragile. "I think you could pull of Elvira," she smiled back.

Hazel took another sip of her coffee while Nora spoke. She nodded, though not fully understanding what exactly Lucia meant. Was she looking for a friend or an employee? Hazel knew many people who outsourced jobs to freelancers such as herself. But no one ever even mentioned the word 'friend'.

She pressed her thumb in between her lips and chewed lightly on her fingernail while she thought about it. Lucia hadn't really told her anything of value, nothing concrete. What if this was illegal? Would it matter? No, of course not. Hazel was used to doing very illegal things. But it did matter what kind of information she gathered, how that information was used, and who was involved. There were always gray areas when working with information. Information was, above all, valuable. "Well, I won't turn you down just yet. But I will need more information before I commit. I may be a criminal, but I still have some morals, you understand," Hazel said casually. "Should we end our meeting now or would you like to speak somewhere more private?"

WC: 255
TAG: Nora Palladi

When Lucia agreed to continue with the job by going somewhere more private, Hazel smiled and drank the rest of her coffee. She boxed up the rest of the danish as well and put it inside her back pack that housed her computer and a few other necessities. She never went without her back pack. It was gray and distressed from wear and tear complete with random drawings, pins, and sewed on patches. Leo had given it to her as a birthday present on her first birthday living with him. No matter how tattered and beat up it got, she refused to get rid of it so it was covered with random pieces of fabric to cover up holes and tears. Hazel never had belongings after she was taken from her parents house so she valued everything she owned.

"Yes, but just this once," she said as she got up to leave. She never had to come up with an area for her clients before. Usually she went to them and hoped that things turned out for the best. She never gave out her address and she was always careful not to be followed home. "Next time, if there's a next time, you'll have provide our secret club house," she winked.

Hazel lead her down the street towards the other side of town. She didn't talk much, preferring to just get where they needed to go. Time was money and as beautiful as Lucia was, her face didn't provide Hazel with any money.

They turned a corner and walked down the stairs on the side of a building. The stairs lead to a door underground, a basement. She knocked once, waited, then twice, waited, and once again. A home opened in the door and a pair of eyes started back at her. "I solemnly sweat I am up to no good," she said the password, then the door opened.

Hazel smiled at Lucia and have her the cue to follow. The basement, as it was called, was a hidden area for people who wanted to conduct private business. The music was loud, the air was hazy with smoke, and the lights above them changed colors. People kissed and made out on some of the seats, but mainly they spoke to each other or were on their computers.

There were all sorts of seating arrangements throughout the open room. Then towards the back there were a few booths with curtains to close around then if needed. To another side of the basement were three closed doors. Damn the rooms were taken.

Hazel walked to an empty both towards the back of the room. The bench wrapped around the round table, a curtains faced towards the front of the room. She stepped into the booth and drew the curtains.

"Don't worry, no one will be able to hear us," Hazel assured her as she sat down towards the middle of the booth. Hazel figured that Lucia probably didn't know anything about the basement, else she would have know to come here too walk in private.

Wc idk
Tag Nora Palladi

Hazel watched as Lucia pulled out a packet from her bag. She sat up straighter at the edge of her seat when the woman began to talk and then looked at the paper that Lucia opened it to. Hazel had worked similar jobs before, taking collecting data and information from specific companies and even The Capitol. Even though she knew that some information looked to have been omitted in the packet that Lucia showed her, Hazel would only need a few seconds on the computer to figure out everything she needed to know. She allowed Lucia to talk without interrupting her, her eyes scanning at the words and her fingers flipping the pages.

The way the woman spoke now was more business like than before. Hazel rather liked the more hair down version of her. But that was back at the coffee shop. The curtains the were drawn around them allowed them to speak more openly, she wondered how open Lucia could be right now without prying eyes and listening ears. When Lucia stopped, Hazel pulled away from her thoughts. Hazel realized that Lucia was far too beautiful for her own good. She wondered if Lucia took the attention away to herself when she spoke to her co-workers.

"You mentioned you were a physicist," Hazel said, "scientists work for The Capitol. I think we both know the risks of what you're requesting."

Hazel took out a packet of gum and slipped one in her mouth, offering a piece to Lucia. She smacked on the gum, thinking about the kind of trouble she would be in if she were to get caught. Hazel blew a bubble between her lips, then popped it. "I'll do it."

Hazel leaned back on the booth, hiking up her leg to the seat as she often did. "On one condition."

WC: 305
TAG: Nora Palladi

Lucia was right of course. It would be odd to outsource a job for The Capitol when another employee could just do the job. Of course, that also meant only one thing. If Nora wasn't doing it for The Capitol, she was doing it for their enemy. Hazel pushed it out of her mind. This was a job that she would take, she'd already decided on it. The risks didn't look too high from what she'd seen on paper, but that could all change once she started working on it.

Hazel smiled when the woman asked. She had another thing she thought about asking of her, but that wasn't as important. Maybe this wasn't important either, but Hazel found that it was her top priority at the moment. "Tell me your real name," she said and tilted her head, wondering if 'Lucia' would actually divulge her true identity. But it wouldn't have mattered anyways. A few searches on her computer and Hazel would be able to figure out who the woman in front of her was. It wasn't hard to find people, especially ones who worked for The Capitol like she did. They were easy targets, easy finds.

WC: 200
TAG: Nora Palladi

Hazel watched as Lucia considered her condition. A name was so simple to most people. But to her, a name was valuable. A name, a real name meant existence and vulnerability. And the moment that the woman spoke her name, she was stripped of a piece of her armor that protected her from people like Hazel. There was so much that Hazel could do with her name. So much damage she could inflict, as she'd done numerous times to others. But that wasn't Hazel's intention.

She liked what Nora had said about her middle name. It made things less secretive, but it still was. Perhaps it was where they were. In some underground hideout with dim lights, a booth with curtains surrounding it. There was an air of darkness about it. An air of mystery that thrilled Hazel. She wondered if Nora felt the tingle of electricity sparking off their flesh.

"Nora suits you," she said as she stuck out her hand once more for the second time during this meeting. "I'm Hazel Tigerlily," she said, laying out her name in the open air between them like some fluttering butterfly waiting to be caught. It felt as if her clothes had been stripped off her, names had a way of protecting people. Even fake ones.

When she pulled her hand back, she gathered the papers back into the folder in the order Nora had them. She closed the folder and tucked it into her backpack, then turned back to Nora. "Is there a deadline?"

WC: 255
TAG: Nora Palladi

Hazel didn't have to think too long about how fast she could get the job finished. It was easy enough for her and if she dedicated all her time into it instead of splitting up to different jobs, she could have it done "two days if you're desperate, but it'd cost twice as much."

She looked at Nora, gauging the way her body had relaxed some, "but you don't look to be in any hurry and since I do have other clients, how does Saturday sound?" It was a week away, enough time for her to wrap up a few jobs and take on some new ones without over burdening herself. She liked the challenge of a closer deadline, stress was one of her biggest motivator. It was the only way to get the best out of her. But she also enjoyed to steadily cruise work, especially when she needed to lie low, which is something she'd had to do lately after taking on a high risk client a week ago.

Her watch beeped once, letting her know it was an on an hour mark. "You might want to leave now, there's about to be a show," she smiled at Nora, her fingers played with the curtain as she peeked out and saw some of the first few ladies coming out from around the corner, barely any clothes on their bodies. The lights around them dimmed even more now. A hand reached inside the curtain and pulled it open, revealing the entirety of the dark room. The sounds of people moving about filled the room, some were leaving while others were just coming in.

"Hi," the woman said, letting go of the curtain.

Hazel looked at Nora and smirked, "Come on, I can walk you out."

WC: 297
TAG: Nora Palladi