A Dimir Operation. Why do I keep meeting girls in this mall? (2024)

Artist: Hanstone - Song: Eternal (Mabinogi Login Theme, Halloween ver.) - Word Count: 889

Although her tone said truth, and her breathing remained calm and collected, a tiny slip in her facial expressions lead James to believe she was lying to him. Affirming his suspicions. To be able to control one's body to such an extent was commendable, but required refining. In order to lie perfectly, James found, one must first be telling the truth. This girl could perfectly simulate the body when telling the truth, but if she even thought to herself for one moment "That was a lie" it would relay to James in her microexpressions. Alas, nice try, filth. She even had a phone to prove herself. It didn't appear she had as much ease at lying as James had. A short nervous breath told him that the real her was not comfortable in social situations. James, of course, would use this opportunity to make sure he was as sociable as he could possibly be. He wanted her to feel this one. For making the mistake of underestimating his ability. James had ensured that he had ambiguity on his side, save for the initial moment when his spiritual pressure was being released. Even so, that would only tell the trained Shinigami one thing. That he was powerful. This, of course, he could use to his advantage. Behind the scenes nudging her with the fear that he could indeed be the one out to get her. But James has only secondary interest in his little worm. He was out to catch the big fish.

She wouldn't mind, huh? James couldn't help but laugh internally at this. She knew she was terrified of him. She made too many mistakes for this not to be clear. And the fact that she accepted, even with knowing that James didn't give a damn about her well-being goes to show the power of money and brute strength. Although, James was far too smart to show her either. For now, he would play the part he had set out for himself.

"

Honestly, I don't fancy myself too much of a ladies man..." James said, inwardly feeling somewhat ashamed at the verity of his words. Carine was hardly a lady, given how vulgar and wrathful she could be. "Funny business just isn't part of my vocabulary!" He said, feigning eagerness. He was quite serious, in fact. "Funny business" would not be tolerated... If they were to find this demon, he would need to take her to areas that were isolated, and somehow manage to get her spiritual pressure to flare. It was unlikely that the demon itself left, but rather that it was hiding nearby. In the case that that doll is important to her, in the interest of building rapport, as well as ensuring combat effectiveness in the case that it was offensively important, James decided it would be best to replace the rice he spilled. "Hey, you called me rice boy earlier! I just noticed! No one gets away with that!" He said, stopping dead in his tracks, and reaching to put a hand on her shoulder. "But now that I remember," He would start, attempting to make eye contact with her so as to increase her social uncomfortability. "Let's go and buy you some rice!" He finished. Your fault for playing the reluctant flirt, you incompetent fool.. James thought to himself, all the while maintaining perfect external composure.

He would then reach to grab one of her hands, while simultaneously charging a lamp post behind her with his mana. She likely wouldn't notice this being done, as it was out of her view, but he did make sure she could at least sense it happening behind her, so that she knew that not taking his hand meant being skewered by a sharpened and superheated lamp post. Of course, he couldn't kill her as she was his bait, and he expected her to know this, but he also expected her to understand that he was much more powerful than the illusion she might currently have. He, in short, wanted her to know he was lying too, and that not following cues meant death. Even if in this particular case, he didn't feel she was worth the effort. Fear would make her much easier to control than active confrontation.

Just having the looming threat of death was enough, James believed, to make sure she didn't try any "funny business".

Provided all went according to plan, James would quickly retrieve his mana, and begin running towards a store that sold Asian foods and spices, girl in hand. Once within the store, he would look around, feigning awe at the many different kinds of spices he had no doubt all either seen before with Carine, or tasted a long while ago with Naia Rosewood. "

There's so many! You go see if they have rice here, when you're done, meet me in the food court! I could use some lunch! How bout you?" Of course, what James was really saying was that they needed to get the rice, then situate themselves in a place that would be easily accessible for that demon to locate her in. James of course, would be tracking her the whole time, in the case that the demon showed up during the time she was away from him. With that, he handed her the money to buy the rice. In fact, he handed her enough money to buy all the rice in the store... Walking away, and giving her a little wink that he would leave to her interpretation, he walked straight for the food court. It was time to set the bait on the hook.

Artist: Yaroslav Mjelsky - Song: A Man of His Word - Word Count: 903

As the fetid corpse's refuse dropped her phone, James couldn't help but think that she was trying something funny. She obviously had two phones, as he saw from her earlier stint, so his eyes went to her eyes, rather than her hands or the phone itself. He could see no murderous intent, only what appeared to be curiosity. She was testing him. Well played... James thought to himself as he reached out to catch the phone midway through it's fall, displaying his combat reflexes to her as well. But I think you misunderstood something about me. He finished, all the while his eyes locked on hers, never moving. It was a nice trick, but rather than leave himself open and vulnerable, James didn't lock onto hands or moving objects. A skilled people reader such as himself would follow her eyes. If her eyes spelled danger, his reflexes would save him. From this, alone, James inferred that perhaps she was giving up the act.

Although it would make her more difficult to control, James didn't mind if she finally admitted defeat and caved in. It would make what they had to do even easier if he could only tell her why they were following this demon. Although to declassify the mission meant potential failure. He still had no way of knowing that he wasn't indeed the bait, and that a even stronger demon were hunting him, using this girl.

"

Whoa! You almost dropped this!" He said.

Sentient garbage.. he scoffed mentally.

"

Good thing I caught it when I did!" He said, almost genuinely laughing at her attempt. She was very good, but in his job, he had to be the best.

As she clutched his arm into her breasts, he looked down at her small figure with a smile that, to onlookers would be none to out of place. But to the girl, of course, she knew what it meant. "

Nice try," he whispered as he was now in close enough range to her ear to keep others out of earshot. "But I could bend you over on this fountain right now and not bat an eyelash. This isn't some type of anime. I won't be deterred so easily." Finally, he dropped the illusion himself. "And by the way, public displays of affection only draw attention initially. After a short moment, nobody wants to even look." He said, wiggling his fingers at the end of her skirt. "To think you left yourself wide open for that..." He continued, tracing a gloved finger up and down an inconspicuous part of her thigh. Carine was definitely going to kill him. Slowly, if the torture ever stopped..

Honestly, she was no threat if she couldn't even think about the long-term effects of her actions. James grew tired of dancing around, as by now, it was more a hinderance than a help.

Waiting in the food court for the Shinigami to arrive, James sipped some tea he had bought during the wait. Honestly, the girl was taking a tad long, but she remained relatively in the same place, as his engrams scanned. No doubt she was using up all of his money, that greedy selfish sack of false flesh... He genuinely didn't care beyond the sentiment that she might be thinking he needed that money or something. He didn't. After a long and arduous hour, she finally arrived.

"

Glad to see you bought the whole store. Have fun on your shopping trip?" He asked, donning his more appropriately serious face. James didn't mind the money she wasted. What he did mind, however, was the time. Taking an hour in a rice store was clearly intentional. "Actually I don't care. Just sit here, look pretty enough to be a target, and don't talk unless I ask you to." James said coldly, looking the shinigami up and down before gesturing impatiently that she take a seat. "Now then, I believe real introductions are in order," He started, reaching a hand out boldly across the table toward her. The same he stroked her thigh with. "My name is James William Caldwell. Despite my somewhat harsh attitude, I work with the Vanguard. I can't actively tell you what I just drafted you into, but I'm going to assume you're not so stupid as to be unable to infer that." It was obvious, and she was smart. That was that.

"

So we've just got to wait. In the meantime, I've got to say, I commend your technique, but when you've been in the game for as long as I have, you learn very quickly what works and what doesn't. You could use some better detection methods. For instance, look into microexpressions. They're the one thing a person cannot hide, unless they're drugged or otherwise resilient." To be frank, James didn't care who she was or what she would do with the knowledge. He wasn't paid to keep track of Shinigami. That was the Gotei's job. Unless they were with the Vanguard. "And the phones were pretty sly, but once your face told me 'lie', I knew that all the evidence to the contrary was false. That's just how it is in my line of work. And no worries, I won't kill you necessarily... but if you hinder me, you're dead. You screw up on your end? You're dead. Simple as that. So just don't mess up." With that, James would lean back in his chair and sip his tea.