2013.10.18 - Mr. and Mrs. Smith Go to Tokyo, Part 2

The next morning: 
There was a shower running. 
But the bedsheets were so nice and comfortable, and Roy Harper snuggled deeper into the bed, before gradually processing that a) the bed wasn't his, b) he was sore and his skin tingled in a rather pleasant way, one all too familiar, and c) he'd met Jade for dinner last night. And then one thing had led to another, and now... 
Opening one eye, Roy turned over to the other side of bed. Yep, someone had definitely occupied it. And the remaints of dinner for two were on the table. And the shower was running. 
And the lingering scent of jasmine and sweat wafted through the air. 
Sitting up, stretching, Roy heads towards the bathroom, fully naked. If that was who he thought it was...
There are more tell-tale signs in the room as he crosses to the bathroom. A sheer stocking dangling from the lamp. Just one. On the sofa is a pair of black silk underwear that's definitely not his. Same as the black gown draped over the back of a chair. No, the halter neck wouldn't do a THING for him.
Well-heeled pumps are set neatly by the door, and as he reaches the bathroom he's left to muse over the fate of the missing stocking.
The voice humming in the shower is definitely female and the language is French. It's a Nina Simone tune, and Jade doesn't have a bad singing voice either. "Hand me the shampoo, Harper." she says, from the other side of the curtain. "We've got a busy day today."
Oh yes. She's going to kill someone, and Roy gets to try and stop her.
Everything -does- sound better in the shower, but yeah, Roy -would- attest to that Jade didn't have a bad singing voice out of it either. 
Taking ahold of the bottle of shampoo, Roy grimaces at Jade. "You do realize that today I'm sticking to you like glue?" Not that they'd discussed whatever her assassination plan was in between the moment he'd stepped through the door to find Jade's shoes neatly lined up in his hotel room and falling asleep. There wasn't much discussion to be had, actually, save for a bit of consideration about 'getting back together' because Lian had asked about it. 
Stepping into the shower, Roy preens under the shower before handing over the requested bottle of shampoo. "So, find that a problem?" In other words, Roy was going to take a chance here and assume that Cheshire (not Jade, he didn't want to think of the assassin as Jade) needed to finish the job by doing -something-. 
Jade turns her back towards him as he joins her in the shower, offering her long, dark hair. She doesn't accept the shampoo herself, of course. It was always Roy's job to do that -for- her, after all. Waiting for him to start with the lathering, she smiles to herself and replies in a soft voice. "Of course not." The false nail was planted yesterday; part one of her plan.
"Mmmm. So what will -you- be doing there today? While you're not watching and fawning over me, that is? I'm assuming you're here for some... higher purpose."
And as the usual 'surely you don't expect -me- to do that' rejection of the shampoo ritual continues, Roy begrudgingly pours shampoo into a hand, and begins to lather up the raven-black hair that he'd not too long ago fondled.
Concentrating on massaging her scalp, the better to keep her hair luxurious and glistening-black, Roy wrinkles his nose. "I'm more concerned with making sure there's no incidents. Nobody's going to die on my watch." Not that he could always ensure it, but striving to do that -every- day... that was Roy Harper.
In any case, it seemed, they were going to dance their usual dance - refuse to confirm target or mission, and see who survived and who didn't. If their objectives happened to overlap, well...
The hotel shampoo has its own fragrance, and slowly diminishes Jade's trademark scent. The soapy lather running down her bare back is likely distracting, but she sort of intended that. Chuckling softly at his reply, the woman asks. "Yes, of course. But who are you protecting? And based on what intel?"
Another part of their ongoing game. Cheshire always wants to know her potential adversaries, especially those in Roy's government or superhero circles. And if he's there to protect someone specifically, they could be a higher-priced 'bonus' target than the one she's already going after.
Of course it -was- distracting. That the soapy lather ran down and pooled around tracts of land that had only too recently been explored, and would happily be explored again... 
But the question shifts Roy's thought process from exploration to parrying. "Rumors, apparently. Anonymous tip. Could be anything, but it was worth keeping an eye on, if only to prevent international repercussions," Roy says softly, shifting his eyes back towards the back of Jade's head, now concerned with teasing his fingers through the hair, making sure that it could be ready for conditioning. Wouldn't want any unsightly split ends, after all... "Someone doesn't like the banquet host." No questioning Jade on exactly who -her- target was. 
And now the thrust: "Thinking it's a business rival. Don't suppose you have any thoughts on that, do you?"
For her part, Jade makes soft little pleased sounds when he runs fingers through her hair. Yes, she's always liked that anyway, and it adds a bit of spice to their professional repartee. She doesn't instruct him on conditioner, figuring he'd at least recall his own conditioning in hair care at this point.
The woman shrugs at his question. "It could be a lot of people, really. It's a competitive industry, after all. Everywhere you turn, someone is waiting to slit your throat or stab you in the back." She pauses, then adds casually. "Or poison your crab dip. I think I'll wear my hair up today. And I'll need to get a new gown from my room. The other is quite rumpled."
Rinsing Jade's hair in preparation for the conditioner, Roy wrings a fair bit of water out before starting in on the final bit of hair abulation. Whether to apply body wash or soap depended entirely on how she was apparently feeling this morning, and there -was- always the chance of being left to fend for himself. 
"Of course. I figured it'd be his biggest rival, but he doesn't strike me as the sort to do things underhandedly." 
Running the conditioner through Jade's hair, nearly strand by strand, letting the touch of his hands linger just a bit too long near wet skin, Roy snorts. "Good thing I don't like crab dip. And I can't imagine how your gown got so rumpled," he replies dryly, as he starts to rinse. And then it was -his- turn... 
She chuckles softly, head tilted back with a soft purr as he starts on the conditioning process. Yes, Jade always did like how thorough he was with this. "You assume things will be handled underhandedly, of course." she replies nebulously. "That is a matter of opinion."
Jade knows the routine well, and once she's rinsed they reverse places and she starts shampooing Roy. The woman takes her time, talking while working his scalp with her knuckles. Even her 'normal' nails are implants, tough enough to score concrete. Nevermind she's still wearing nine false nails.
"There was nothing wrong with the crab dip." the toxic assassin replies. "I was merely speaking metaphorically. He's no more likely to die from the crab dip as from a blade in the kidney." Rinsing his hair, now, she starts with the body wash... cleaning him rather thoroughly. Of course this only leads to further distraction that will require more cleaning afterward...
It could have been a vicious circle, but there was work to be done. Afterwards, it was business as usual, a race to see who could get dressed first and back on-site. In Roy's case, the white suit had been replaced by a black suit, with a red tie, and black shades. 
The only question was, was Jade going to make it easier to keep an eye on her by sticking with her, or was he going to, horrors, actually -have- to stick to bodyguarding? Granted, he'd far rather keep an eye on Cheshire than on his primary defensive objective... 
Jade dresses faster than he does, since she doesn't have a tie to manage. And she even manages to find her other stocking... somewhere. Smoothing down the black silk, she -is- on the rumpled side after all. But for all that, the woman doesn't seem to be in a hurry to slip out of the room ahead of him.
"I'm just down the hall, Roy. Let me get a fresh gown and put my hair up. Shouldn't be long if you want to wait, or you could just meet me downstairs at the elevator."
That he was supposed to meet the CEO in half an hour... well that was a bit of a problem. For a brief moment, Roy considers taking her up on the offer, but soon realizes the dilemma. To be on time to protect his objective, he'd have to take his eyes off Cheshire. 
Quickly Roy runs through the agenda of the CEO through his head. Breakfast, covered. A morning meeting, covered but he'd have to be present the rest of the way, up to and including the dinner. Lunch at noon, exhibition at one to four, time off to get ready for the dinner, then the reception... 
Jade was probably as familiar with that agenda, and -she- could strike at any time. But she was clean personally, Roy had made sure of that, to the best of his knowledge. Quite clean. Which likely meant something was -at- one of the locations... 
Sigh. 
"I'll wait," Roy runs a hand through his drying hair. "Unless you want help with the hair." 
Jade smiles up at him, bending low to slip on her pumps. "Thanks all the same, but we both know you'd only make it worse." Shampooing and conditioning are one thing, styling is something altogether different. 
"Ready?" And then it's off down the hall together. Rumpled silk or not, the gown still looks stunning on her.
Keying her room, Jade steps in first and instructs him. "Do not touch anything, no matter how harmless it appears." And yeah, the poison princess is likely pretty serious about that. The room looks typical with a couple of open suitcases, clothes hanging in the closet, and several pairs of shoes.
In full view of him she strips down completely. Starting with fresh underwear, she dresses in a colorful kimono and slippers. Then it's into the bathroom to wind up her hair around a pair of smooth, wooden sticks.
If nothing, Jade was certainly going to stand out at the business convention, dressed like that. Bold as brass, the woman. And Roy had to admit, it was perhaps her best feature. 
Strike that, her hair was. Or maybe it was the eyes. Or... 
In any case, Roy had to admit, she certainly didn't seem like she could pull off the 'demure' Japanese woman, but watching her dress up in the kimono and the wooden sticks, for just a moment, Roy could picture Lian grown up like her, and smile a bit as doing so, before considering just what sort of boys that his daughter would attract. Hnnnh. No.
Shaking his head, Roy focuses his attention on the here and now, wistfully commenting, "I always liked the cheongsam you wore."
Jade smiles at that, adjusting the sticks just -so- before looking over at him from within the open bathroom. "Thank you." she replies, which somehow sounds a lot like 'I know'. The cheongsam restricts her legs, not that it would slow her down a -whole- lot in a fight. Stepping right up, she slips her arm in his and smiles, resting her hand upon his forearm. 
"Come, now. We wouldn't want you late for your meeting."
Right. Generally mixing work with pleasure was a -bad- idea. And Dinah had always given him a -glare- about precisely who Lian's mother was, and the last time she'd been in town, a disapproving attitude. 
But it was all too easy to slip into that comfort zone with Jade Nguyen, and keep Cheshire off to the side. 
But this being the first time they'd crossed paths on 'business', Roy had to admit to a certain tension in knowing her role at the convention. 
And yet, somehow, it just made everything -hotter-. 
No, he definitely -wasn't- going to tell Dinah or anyone else about this. 
The meeting at the CEO was first up, and it was then that Roy experienced the first issue: 
"You didn't get an invitation?" Koji Tsukihara had always seemed to give out those invitations freely, and Roy was certain that when she had run into him before, she almost assuredly would have gotten one. And yet there she was, boldly telling him... 
Jade gives him an almost apologetic smile as she shrugs. "The perils of making last-minute arrangements, I'm afraid." she admits. "Didn't you wonder at my lack of a nametag yesterday?" And yes, it makes sense. She was a gate-crasher, at best.
"But no matter. You go and enjoy the old man's pontificating. I'll be at the breakfast buffet. Be sure and take good notes for me, hmm?"
"I... uh..." Taking a deep breath, Roy offers Jade a sheepish look. "I admit, I noticed, and I was admiring the view." 
Eyes shift towards the ceiling in a very short sigh of exasperation, knowing full well that the woman was oh so smooth at keeping him just offbalance enough. "Mmm, good notes, I'm sure. If information about his exhibit is what you're after, you'll find out soon enough." 
Leaning in to kiss her cheek chastely (mostly), Roy murmurs in her ear, "If you're going to poison -something-, at least pick something nobody's going to eat. Fish eyes, maybe." 
The assassin chuckles at the advice, tilting her head to accept the kiss. She pats his cheek almost tenderly, then fingers curl to -lightly- scratch with those lethal nails. "Don't tell me how to do my job, Harper, and I won't tell you how to do yours." 
Kissing his cheek right back, Jade winks and sneaks a discrete pat on the rump as well. "I'll save you a danish, or something equally fattening." she quips lightly. And then the woman is off towards the buffet, with only a glance back to see that Roy is truly off to his meeting.
Holding his hands up in surrender, and then flashing his trademark crooked half-grin, Roy winks, and then heads to meet up with his meeting. 
It was, as expected, a technological triumph yet again, with the full prospectus of roll-out looking quite good for the next fiscal quarter. 
Good enough to die for. 
There was just the briefest of discussion on the next meeting, a quick check to see if he could find Jade once, and figure out -her- schedule. Surely she had to have changed plans with Roy around. Unless she was that audacious to continue anyway. But how...?
A quick call with the other security people to see if he'd kept track of Jade and how... well, yes, that Asian in the kimono with the peekaboo cleavage and the chopsticks in her hair. THAT ONE. What was her status? 
God, considering all the possibilities that she could be up to, that woman was going to be the death of him. 
True to her word, Jade does restrict her mingling to the breakfast buffet. The hard part of her job was completed yesterday with the component specifically targeting Tsukihara-san through the false nail dissolved onto his tempura shrimp. It was formulated to react with the complex carbohydrates in the batter to be readily stored in the man's fat cells. Something he possessed in abundance.
The second component was easier and could be administered more globally, since only Tsukihara-san received the reactive agent. Only someone of Cheshire's skill could separate the poison into two components and concentrate it so that the second, inert portion could be easily contained inside a hollow hair stick.
The Hemlock plant is well-known in the poisoning community. What is less well-known is that Hemlock seeds are a favorite of quail, who are immune to the poison. What is even less well-known is Tsukihara-san's fondness for quail. And mimosa.
The quick slip of a hair stick, a discrete stir into the mimosa punch bowl as it's being refilled, and Cheshire's task is done. It will take a few days for both ingredients to combine, but the stress of the return flight home should be sufficient to do it.
Roy was to know nothing of this, save that with no apparent harm coming to Koji Tsujihara during the banquet, and having discovered Cheshire -far- too late in the process, he couldn't prove any of this. No, Cheshire covered her tracks too well that one would need -concrete- evidence to prove it, and they didn't have anything, as the security cameras hadn't picked up -anything-. Short, quick, wily. 
But that was later. For the now, Roy can only sigh as the evening went on with no apparent harm, and at the end of the evening, when he'd managed to grab the last dance with Jade, the -look- he gives Jade when they met again was a mix of 'okay, did I succeed or not?' and 'Just what did you DO?'
But Cheshire is too good a tactician where administering death is concerned to give anything away. And Jade's mind is already thinking ahead to dinner. They dance together and she rests her cheek comfortably against his shoulder. There will be talk later, of course, amongst his 'colleagues' about the hot little geisha he picked up at the conference. Even though she was -far- from a geisha.
"I hope you didn't have plans for dinner." Jade murmurs close to his ear. "I was just planning on ordering boring old room service again, myself." When she looks up at him, her smile is almost genuine. Almost tender. 
"Your place or mine?"
Category:Log