Mingle and an Intro: Welcome to the Box!

[gravemanagement]

[ On today, a long-time business has been bought for the day and paid well. Whoever paid it wants people to eat and make merry for some reason. Must be a holiday? Huh, all devices showing the date day it's the new year. It doesn't matter what day it was for you before now, it's not the new year. And you? You are at the Chloe Café at 1:30PM.

Waiters and waitresses will take your order. Really, it's a chill time. Even if you're supposed to be dead? You're alive now, somewhere in Los Angeles, Japanifornia. Welcome and have a good day, because eventually there's gonna be a murder to solve in this big ol' city. ]

Comments

[guiltyguitar]

Well. I can agree with that. It's kind of a shame. I mean, you grow up hearing about this guy that's so very special... I'll tell you what happened, but you probably won't believe me. I got him disbarred for forging evidence.

[ His easy smile is a mask. It hides the storm of turmoil in his soul about the entire thing, honestly. He flags the waitress down and asks for a coffee, himself. ]

That was my first case. Ach! What a mess it was. Pretty public, too.

[bittertasteofdefeat]

[His expression briefly falters - he must've heard that wrong.

No, no he didn't mishear that.

Of course. Of course that guy would forge evidence. Somehow, this explains EVERYTHING. Or, perhaps it's just more reason to justify some of his old feelings of hatred.

He knew all along that there was a reason he couldn't stand the man, and he wasn't sure at the time if it was his blundering incompetence or the fact that his personality was so insufferable with his foolish ideological nonsense and preaching about right and goodness and trust and faith..

Mia got herself completely taken in by this piece of human-shaped garbage, who ultimately couldn't even notice that she might have been at risk of catching some heat on an investigation and it ultimately got her killed.

And now, to find out that this *man* was preaching about right and wrong like some self-righteous law superhero only for him to be every bit as corrupt as most of the prosecutor's office?

It left a bad taste in his mouth, not unlike the taste of some gas station's burnt coffee that's been brewing for too long and just left in the carafe slightly hotter than lukewarm.

He sets his jaw. The impulse, of course, is to ask how long he's been at that, and what that means for the other cases he was actually involved in - but he holds off. That's not a line of questioning worth following through on, that's a bear that just isn't worth poking with a stick right now.]

It sounds like a mess, and an awful lot of pressure for a first case. I'm almost surprised that one of the others wasn't assigned to it, because it would've been your first case.

[Admittedly, his own first case as a prosecutor was a fairly high-stakes one that was on the fairly convoluted side. However, he had the experience of working as a defense attorney before that, so it wasn't technically his first actual case.

Seeing an opportunity, he smirks.]

But, if you're a famous musician, wouldn't every case you worked be very public?

[Your fangirls aren't subtle, Klav.]

[guiltyguitar]

... Didn't start that way. My band was kind of a side gig. We just... got very, very popular. We're made up entirely of law enforcement types, so I guess people found it refreshing or something.

[ A shrug. ]

... It would've been better for my first case if it hadn't stalled out, honestly. I'm not mad about losing, I'm mad there wasn't a verdict at all.

[bittertasteofdefeat]

[He gives a nod.

It figures, somehow, that something like that would take off, though. The novelty alone would probably have been enough for it to catch some extra attention.

The mention of his first case stalling out without a conviction catches his interest again, however.]

The charges were dropped, then?

[guiltyguitar]

Dropped? Ha ha ha ha ha ha. I wish.

[ His smile is easy as ever, but his tone implies the opposite of amusement. ]

More like... we dropped the defendant, and nobody could find him to pick him up! When things started looking south for the defense, he stood up there on the stand, and he said, "Nobody can find me guilty."

We had no idea how right he was, until he literally vanished before our very eyes... a talented magician, that Zak Gramarye.

[bittertasteofdefeat]

[He never could've thought that he'd be thankful as Hell for some of his worst cases - and yet, at least he never had to deal with a vanishing defendant. A dead one, yes, but not one that literally managed to escape before his eyes.

..Actually, mentioning that might come as some kind of consolation. He takes a sip of his coffee.]

Mia Fey's first case involved the defendant taking his own life on the stand. At least you were spared an incident like that one.

[There's a slight smirk, but it's a bitter one. The truth is, he doesn't particularly care to remember that day, either.

He looks down at the coffee in his mug, and at his reflection in it, for a moment or two.

..It all really started with that trial, didn't it? It really was the beginning of his end.]

[guiltyguitar]

[ That has his attention real fast. That sounds like a hell case to him. ]

... I would hope I don't have to deal with that. This system is confused enough as it is. What a nightmare that must have been.

I was lucky. My first case made enough waves in a positive way they stopped comparing me to my brother.

[bittertasteofdefeat]

[That's a fair assessment - it absolutely was a hell case.

He smirks, even though his tone remains level and dead serious.]

Believe it or not, that was hardly the worst aspect of that case.

[Another sip of coffee.]

Well, that counts for something, doesn't it?

[And that's an actual easy-going smile with actual warmth. Something a bit more genuine in the wake of all of the reflexive posturing and bitterness. An expression that would surely spark recognition of his old self, if anyone was familiar with one Diego Armando.

Not that it mattered, even if it was almost proof that there was some lingering vestiges of who he once was, under all of that bitterness and despair.]

[guiltyguitar]

... You work in the law, and it bites you, after long enough. Maybe even immediately, if you're truly unlucky.

[ A sigh. ]

But it needs to be done. As long as men keep committing crimes, there will need to be people to defend the innocent, and people to indict the guilty... ja?

[bittertasteofdefeat]

It's less about the law, and more about the people.

[It's not his fault that people are terrible. Let's hope you never get this cynical, Klav.]

So long as there are laws, there will be people breaking them; it's just how things are.

[Just don't find yourself on the other side of that line, because it's an incredibly fine one, and a very slippery slope from there. Not that that's something he has any familiarity with or anything.]

[guiltyguitar]

... There's always going to be darkness in the heart of man. That's why it's our job to shine a light on it.

[ He smiles. This is a little bit more earnest. You can tell he really believes what he's saying. ]

Besides, everyone knows the prosecutor's office is largely full of very talented and handsome individuals.

[bittertasteofdefeat]

[It's that last comment that has him grinning, a genuine one, he's amused.]

You're right about that. Unless their name is Payne, that is.

[He's still grinning a little to himself as he sips his coffee. Okay, so that was a little mean, but he's not wrong.]

If he's still working, he probably was the one who filed that noise complaint against you.

[There's a much broader, lopsided grin at that, as he rests his chin on his free hand.]

The man probably thinks "fun" is a size for a candy bar.

[For just a few moments, it's almost easy to forget how much time and events have changed Diego - because this kind of tongue-in-cheek banter is more in line with how things once were. In fact, for these few moments, it's entirely possible that even Godot's briefly forgotten about some of his baggage. If only for a few moments.]

[guiltyguitar]

[ Oh, that has him laughing. ]

Absolutely not. Herr Payne is the guy who hands out dental floss on Halloween. He's the one nobody wants to visit.

[bittertasteofdefeat]

[He's actually chortling at that.]

If only he'd take off that mask for the other 364 days of the year.

[He grins at his own joke, almost like he briefly forgot about the visor attached to his face, or he's being mildly self-effacing. Either way, he seems to be in good spirits about it.

He actually needed that distraction, really. It got him out of his own head for a few moments.

Once they both calmed back down from the joking at Payne's expense, he goes back to being somewhat more serious. But it's casual intrigue more than anything else.]

For the record, I don't believe I actually caught your name.

[He's grinning again. He's managed this entire conversation almost exclusively on contextual cues and a gambit that Payne was still working/known enough to be familiar to the blond. You better believe he's proud of himself.]

[guiltyguitar]

Oh, you know that's asking too much. He'd scare the children, ja?

[ A chuckle. ]

Klavier. Klavier Gavin. Nice to meet you, Herr Godot. Sorry we're so boxed in. You know how it is.

[ Fans. They love him. ]