Yang Kangmo (
excitababble) wrote in
maskormenacelogs2015-08-03 09:56 pm
Entry tags:
(no subject)
WHO: Kangmo and Touka
WHERE: De Chima streets
WHEN: August 3rd
WHAT: Someone's getting confronted about his bad stalker tendencies
WARNINGS: Possible mentions of cannibalism, it depends where the thread goes.
[ They say old habits die hard, and Kangmo seems to be living proof of that. After everything he'd been through back and Susin, and how his bad tendency to take too many candid pictures of one subject in particular earned him a whole lot of distrust, and almost got his skull bashed in, you'd think Kangmo would learn to let go of the stalking. But the problem is that Kangmo is bored, and by sheer coincidence managed to stumble across something interesting.
A hero in a mask.
Alright, so maybe that doesn't sound particularly interesting in country full of heroes, many of which where masks for some inexplicable reason or another (they're all known imPorts, everyone knows they have some sort of power, why bother hiding it?), but something about this one stuck with him. Maybe it was the fact that she didn't exactly have the typical hero look. Hell, if he was going to judge on first glance he definitely wouldn't peg her as being on the right side of the law. But he'd seen her take down a thief and return what was stolen, so he knew better.
And with a quick couple of shots from his camera, that's when the stalking had started.
It was just a thing to do at first, something to kill time. Check out De Chima when he was bored, see if he could spot signs of her, but it eventually became a weekly trip to poke around and see what he could find. Odd behavior mostly, her skulking around cemeteries, but never being able to get close enough to see why without tipping her off to his presence.
Spending a lot more time in the city did lead him to something else of interesting too. It's how he'd discovered there was a lot of suspicious activity around this one particular government building. Which Kangmo decided to also start poking his nose into.
Apparently a straight forward approach was no good, because he didn't fit some arbitrary criteria they seemed to have about people that could or could not get aid there. So he lurked around like he was doing now, late enough at night that he couldn't be seen. Not a great setup for photography, but he's saved up to start buying himself nicer equipment here and there, and a nice set of lenses for low lighting pictures.
Right now he settled comfortably against the wall of a building he'd tucked himself partly behind and waited.
Staking things out was definitely the worst part of his "job". ]
WHERE: De Chima streets
WHEN: August 3rd
WHAT: Someone's getting confronted about his bad stalker tendencies
WARNINGS: Possible mentions of cannibalism, it depends where the thread goes.
[ They say old habits die hard, and Kangmo seems to be living proof of that. After everything he'd been through back and Susin, and how his bad tendency to take too many candid pictures of one subject in particular earned him a whole lot of distrust, and almost got his skull bashed in, you'd think Kangmo would learn to let go of the stalking. But the problem is that Kangmo is bored, and by sheer coincidence managed to stumble across something interesting.
A hero in a mask.
Alright, so maybe that doesn't sound particularly interesting in country full of heroes, many of which where masks for some inexplicable reason or another (they're all known imPorts, everyone knows they have some sort of power, why bother hiding it?), but something about this one stuck with him. Maybe it was the fact that she didn't exactly have the typical hero look. Hell, if he was going to judge on first glance he definitely wouldn't peg her as being on the right side of the law. But he'd seen her take down a thief and return what was stolen, so he knew better.
And with a quick couple of shots from his camera, that's when the stalking had started.
It was just a thing to do at first, something to kill time. Check out De Chima when he was bored, see if he could spot signs of her, but it eventually became a weekly trip to poke around and see what he could find. Odd behavior mostly, her skulking around cemeteries, but never being able to get close enough to see why without tipping her off to his presence.
Spending a lot more time in the city did lead him to something else of interesting too. It's how he'd discovered there was a lot of suspicious activity around this one particular government building. Which Kangmo decided to also start poking his nose into.
Apparently a straight forward approach was no good, because he didn't fit some arbitrary criteria they seemed to have about people that could or could not get aid there. So he lurked around like he was doing now, late enough at night that he couldn't be seen. Not a great setup for photography, but he's saved up to start buying himself nicer equipment here and there, and a nice set of lenses for low lighting pictures.
Right now he settled comfortably against the wall of a building he'd tucked himself partly behind and waited.
Staking things out was definitely the worst part of his "job". ]

no subject
Not that she'd be too thrilled about someone following her around even without all the body stealing, but it adds an extra layer of "absolutely not" whenever she realizes it's happening.
At first, she hadn't been bothered enough to confront him about it. Not worth drawing even more attention to herself. But there's only so much stalking she can take before she has to say something, apparently. And wouldn't you know, this time as she's leaving the building with a "package" in tow is the one where she decides enough is enough.
To be fair, she doesn't actually notice him at first. But. Ghoul senses. When she's on alert, even the smallest sound from nearby seems suspicious. Especially if it's someone lurking around this place.
And once she realizes who it is, Touka's temper gets the better of her. Meaning she's going to waltz straight up to him- pretending to look off into the night sky, but raising her voice plenty loud enough to be heard.]
Nice place for a stroll, huh? Great scenery. [Except not really.]
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He's aware, he's been called on it before. But this is different, this is purely academic, at least that's how he's spinning it. He's trying to poke around and figure out what sort of shady business the government is up to with some of their heroes.
Actually, right now this isn't even about Touka and her masked hero business at all, so when a girl walks up to him and starts talking to him he doesn't make any immediate connections.
He does know he got himself busted watching the building though, and debates hiding the camera before opting for another route. ]
You think so too? It doesn't really fit everyone's tastes, but I've always liked how cities look at night.
[ He holds up his camera with a cheerful smile. ]
It's hard to get good pictures in dark lighting, but there's enough street lights around, and the contrast is always a lot stronger at this time.
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Since when did he have a camera? Touka'd never noticed, but she'd never really seen him up close before now. This is just cranking the suspicion up a notch. PLEASE tell her he didn't catch anything on film, because this is not something she wants to deal with.
What would the headline be? "Local girl unveiled as part-time grave robber"! No fucking thank you.]
Pictures of what?
[Sorry Kangmo, the cheerfulness is not returned.
Touka might be a...generally bad-tempered person, but she's worked in customer service long enough to know how to hide it to some extent. Not right now though. She probably couldn't give two shits about keeping her irritation a secret.
It doesn't help that she definitely thinks he's playing dumb.]
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He does let the smile drop some, the way any normal person would when someone is being inexplicably rude to them. Like wow, what is this girl's problem?!
Except he knows what her problem is, her problem is that he has been spying on the building she just waltzed out of.
He decides to go for a gamble here, and hopes for the best. ]
What do you mean what? Buildings, streets... have you never seen urban photography before?
[ He does a good job of sounding genuinely baffled. ]
Here like this--
[ He looks at his camera, and very quickly flicks past the images of Touka walking out of the building to an innocuous shot of the building next to the government building. It looks bland and his framing is terrible, but there's a bold strip of light running across it, so Kangmo's hoping he can pass it off as something artsy without her realizing it's all bullshit.
Finally he shows her the screen, now that he's off of anything incriminating, but keeps hold of the camera. He's not about to hand it over and let her scroll through the shots he's taken. ]
The lighting on the building is really good, don't you think so?
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or half his face, but whether he's actually convincing or not, she's not buying it. Not that she has any reason to.You know what though? It might've seemed a little more believable if he hadn't taken the time to check the camera screen before he'd showed it to her. Maybe. But probably not.
The look on his face is annoying- like she's the guilty one here? Back up a few steps, pal. But even more than that, Touka doesn't want to see whatever bullshit picture he's trying to show. Her eyes end up turning towards it anyway, on reflex more than anything. If someone's holding something up to you, most people just look at it without thinking- herself included. Not that much about it actually sticks out, other than the giant glare of light. And while she's staring at the picture, for half a second it's tempting...really tempting to just take a shot and snatch the camera out of his hands. But for right now, she just ends up shoving the screen away instead.]
Urban photography my ass-
[Alright, instead of the camera, she's grabbing him- the collar of his shirt anyway- and tugging him forward until they both have a clearer view of the building entrance. Not letting go of him, she waves her free hand towards the front door.]
Cut the crap. Save us both a bit of time.
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She might actually punch him in the face, he's got the distinct impression that it's a real possibility here.
The nice thing about cameras is they have these convenient straps on them that let you wear them around your neck, so when she yanks him forward he's free to drop the camera and hold his hands up, palms out towards her, without fear of breaking the expensive equipment. ]
Hey! Calm down!
[ He leans back away from her as well as he can, definitely not looking for a fight here. ]
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What if she took some anger out on the wall instead? That's sensible, right? And Touka tends to hit something when she's angry, so at least this is inanimate. She slams her fist into the wall beside them with a loud, smacking sound. If it seems like a threat? That works just fine too.
Bad luck on Kangmo, he picked someone with an impressively nasty temper to stalk.]
Don't even! [People telling her to calm down usually seems to have the opposite effect...]
I've noticed you skulking around this place before, so quit trying to play dumb and tell me why you're here. [As angry as she is, Touka still needs to be careful. She doesn't know exactly how much this guy knows about her, or the actual building. And she doesn't want to risk giving anything else away.]
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Wow, you really don't mess around, do you? Is this one of those good cop, bad cop kind of routines? Only the good cop really didn't stick around for long.
[ A slightly wider, nervous grin. ]
If you want, I don't mind if you bring her back. I liked her better than this one now. Ah, but that's probably the point.
[ He clears his throat. ]
Could you...
[ Pointing to where she's grabbing his shirt. ]
It'll be a lot easier to answer questions if you let go.
[ Would it? Because he seems to be talking just fine right now. ]
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It's not like she expected him to spill his guts as soon as she showed up...but knowing someone's lying to her face? Quick way to set her off. And she's still not convinced he's going to say much of the truth now either. But at least he's taking her seriously.
With her arms crossed, Touka stares him down with a scrutinizing glare.]
There. Feel more like talking now?
[Rather...less bullshitting anyway. Because this guy is plenty chatty enough already. We'll see how this goes.]
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Well, no time like the present to find out. He breathes in deeply once she's let him go, relieved it doesn't feel like she's about to toss him against a wall. ]
Not really.
[ He flashes her an uneasy grin before letting it drop.
Where does he start with this? Well, maybe a little honesty, maybe a little playing dumb. Act like he doesn't know a whole hell of a lot (not untrue), but really play up how much it is that he doesn't get. ]
I was taking a picture of that building. The one you just came out of.
[ A beat. ]
It's something important isn't it?
[ Making that question genuine. He doesn't expect her to answer it, but hey if she wants to that'd be great for him. ]
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"Important" is pretty vague. It's a government building, sure. And it's important to her...if only because her friend's forced to keep up connections with them. But in reality? This building probably isn't too important to most other people. And it's not the sort of place you'd drop by on a whim.
Shouldn't this sort of place have guards or something??]
If you don't know anything- [If he really doesn't-] then what're you coming back for?
[The classic "answering a question with a question". She's not about to give him anything more than she has to.
But, let's be real. The building itself doesn't look all that impressive. At least she doesn't think it is. Please don't pull that artsy crap on her, she's not going to believe someone would come back here fore repeated visits. Even if they said they liked it.]
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Still, it seems very shady, and that's enough to warrant an investigation as far as Kangmo is concerned.
Shame his sleuthing isn't all that good and he got busted so fast.
Kangmo frowns and nods to himself, deciding her lack of an answer is answer enough. It's important as far as he's concerned, that's what Touka's avoidance just told him. ]
Why not? Isn't it the job of concerned citizens to look into things that cause concern in the first place?
[ A bullshit reason, but it's a better bullshit one than what he was trying to go with before at least. ]
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Touka's never been known for patience or...or "keeping her cool" or ANYTHING like that, really. Sometimes she might have to, just out of need to keep secrets safe.
But if this guy's been following her around so relentlessly already- he's obviously not going to be deterred very easily. Sooner or later, he'd end up spotting something she wouldn't want him to see. And she's had just about enough of this song and dance.
Besides, as much as he can bullshit about scoping out this place- that wasn't what'd been bothering her the most.]
But it's not just the building you're looking into, is it?
[A step closer. Maybe one that's somewhat threatening.]
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He clenches his jaw, eyes darting back and forth around him, trying to decide what the best escape route is if he can slip past her. ]
I don't know what you...
[ The thought trails off as he looks at her, and his eyes narrow for a second.
One minute...
Glancing Touka up and down now in a way that isn't remotely subtle, there's a slight change in his expression as something clicks into place.
Shame for Touka, really. He might not be great at cover stories, but he's not a dumb boy by any means. ]
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Things've changed since then, for sure. But that's not to say she's above a good punch or two. (Ignoring the fact that we run into that problem again...the one where she might accidentally hit TOO hard...) And seeing a regular-old stalker look her up and down like that is definitely a vote in favor of punching.
Normally this'd call for a "take a picture it'd last longer" sort of comment, except...he must already HAVE some. Ugh.]
Yeah? Gonna finish that thought?
[Sounding angrier by the second. You're treading on thin ice here, pal. Better think carefully before you answer.]
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He's aware of how precarious his situation right now is though, but he goes for a gamble, hoping for the best. ]
I know you. I've seen you before tonight.
[ A laugh, it all makes some weird degree of sense to him. There's still so many pieces missing here, but that's alright. He at least just pieced together two sections big enough he can see part of the puzzle. ]
Wow... after all this time it's almost like meeting a celebrity. Is that why you're so angry at me? I thought it was weird someone would come up to like this when I'd never seen them before. Of course it'd have to be because I had.
[ That actually explain anything to her? Because he's not clarifying right now. ]
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Celebrity? [What the hell? Yeah, she's an Import, and that sort of comes with at least a BIT of inevitable attention from the locals. Good or bad. But she sure as hell hasn't gone out of her way to get herself noticed.
Even when Touka has her mask on she'd rather not be seen. Honestly- the fewer people who know about here, the better.]
Wrong. I'm the complete opposite of a celebrity. [Whatever...that is.] Because I don't want my face OR my business plastered around for everyone to see. And I don't want anyone sticking their nose into it.
[She holds out her hand.] So if you know what's good for you, you'll get rid of any pictures now or I'll do it myself.
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Sure, why not.
He looks skeptically at her hand, and then at his expensive camera. ]
Ah... how about I delete them, and you can watch me do it?
[ In other words... he doesn't want her to break his camera.
He backs up everything he owns almost immediately, so the only pictures he's going to lose are the ones he took tonight, which in all honesty aren't that much anyway. So if she wants him to delete them it's not much of a setback for him.
However, her breaking his camera would be. This cost him a decent amount of money, and he doesn't want to have to buy a new one. ]
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But that doesn't solve the problem with the rest of them, does it? Of me? How many more are there, huh? A couple hundred?
[Seeing that it's been going on quite a while now. And it' can't just be this camera. What else could he have- more on a computer? A second camera?
If he didn't want to worry about his fancy equipment, he shouldn't have taken the pictures in the first place. Getting away with a broken camera instead of a broken face sounds like a pretty good bargain to her. There's no way he's getting out of stalking her scot-free. What would stop him from doing it again?]
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Shame, but he'll just have to think of a way out of this.
Bigger shame that he can't think of any way that won't end with at least some of his equipment being destroyed.
Maybe he should just let her destroy his face instead. He'd actually kind of prefer that. ]
A couple hundred? You're really overestimating me, aren't you?
[ He's got close to that... ]
...Kangmo you can replace a camera....not...your face....
He's got the right idea though- playing dumb about how many he's taken. In fact, it's probably best if she never...finds that out. It won't end well.]
So why were you doing it, huh? You get off on shit like this? Stalking girls around- taking pictures of them? Sicko.
[Her voice keeps rising with each word, but the last one's just full of scorn.
She's already pissed enough that he'd done this to her- imagine how angry she'd be if he'd done it to one of her friends?]
With the right surgeon he could
He actually laughs at that. A tired, disbelieving sounding laugh. This isn't the first time he's been accused of something like that, but he's got no interest in using Touka's pictures for something like that. She doesn't look that good in her full masked getup.
He sighs now, canting his head to the side. Fine, he'll be frank with her. ]
If I have a camera this nice don't you think I know how to find porn online? Why would I need pictures for something like that?
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It doesn't matter though. Whatever they're being used for, there's still a guy following her around and taking pictures of her. That laugh strikes a nerve though.]
Then why the fuck are you taking them? [The real question...and it's hard to expect a real answer here, too. Her fists clench and unclench- which might give the impression that she's at least trying to control her anger.]
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Now seems like a pretty good time to be honest (if not omitting a detail or two), especially because the real answer will probably make him seem like less of a creep than any believable lie would. ]
Which ones? The ones of you? Boredom... I just happened to be out one night when you were, and when I saw you fighting off some guys I thought to myself "Ah... so there really are people here that wear masks to fight crime..."
[ He pauses here, staring off at the sky. ]
Having powers and fighting for "what's right" isn't that unusual here, is it? But actually doing it in a mask is pretty weird, and besides when I actually started tailing you it didn't look like you were always using the masks for heroics, so I got curious... what kind of girl is this?
[ A pause, considering her face carefully. ]
You seem like the kind of girl who could blend into a crowd. Someone that could easily go unnoticed if you did want to save a life or two in your downtime without being harassed about it later.
[ He's carefully leaving out the part that her behavior seemed highly suspect, and part of him wanting to follow her around was wanting to uncover her secrets. It sounds better if he doesn't admit that. ]
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[She's still not entirely convinced, but this sounds a lot more believable, at least. Someone tailing her out of boredom is a lot better than someone tailing her because of midnight body-raids...But that doesn't mean he couldnt've seen something while following her.]
Is it really that weird? All that shit on tv and comic books or whatever..."heroes" hide their faces because they don't want to be bothered. [Criminals too. She sure doesn't think of herself as a hero, probably made obvious by the way she says the word. It's hard to feel that way, especially when you've murdered humans in cold blood before. There's no going back on that.
The people she has rescued here? Happened to be passing by. She's not about to go on night patrols across the cities...but she can't seem to bring herself to ignore someone screaming for help either. Which she's resenting a little now, since it'd attracted attention.]
They don't want to be followed? Or watched? Seems kind of obvious. [Not like it'd be any better if he'd done it to someone "normal". She just happened to be unlucky enough to catch his interest, so she's the one who has to deal with it.]
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Which is good, because it's not actually a lie, and he's not sure he could come up with a lie she'd not only believe more, but would also not make him sound too awful. Anything that sounded good would also sound fake, and anything that sounded real would make him sound so much worse than this does.
He does his best to shrug at her comment, like it's not a big deal. ]
That's in comic books, isn't it? That's not the same thing as it happening in life right in front of you.
[ He's quick to clear his throat and smile apologetically though. ]
Ah but... I think I enjoy having fully intact bones as much as you seem to like not being followed, so I think I can put my curiosity to the side this time.
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[She won't be convinced. Doing it once is bad enough to her, there's not a lot that would be completely convincing. This means she's got one extra thing to be paranoid about now.
That said, Touka doesn't actually plan on breaking this guy's arm, or anything. It's more tempting in theory than it is in practice....and she's done with doing needless crap like that. Still, she needs something out of this.]
Don't come around here again. [Which would be a good start. She'll definitely be checking.]
And- [pointing towards the camera] break that memory card. Better yet? Just give it to me. [See? She's even letting him keep the camera. There must be more pictures back at home, but if he does this? Maybe she can at least believe he'll take her seriously.]
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That's not to say he won't still watch her from afar, but he definitely won't be getting this close and personal, and keeping a video record from this point on. He wants to know what her deal is, but he also wants to keep living.
He sighs, but doesn't fight her on her request. If he's just getting out of this with his memory card broken? That's nothing. He's making it out well.
So he pops the card out and hands it to her, expecting her to snap it then and there. ]
Does this mean you'll let me keep all my teeth?
[ Trying to joke about this, but he's still nervous she's going to actually attack him or his things. ]
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She does snatch the memory card, and for a second...actually considers holding onto it instead. Maybe to get a better idea of what else he'd taken pictures of. But...no. The idea doesn't last. Her hand closes on the card to crush it in a quick, satisfying crack. Those're the sort of pictures she'd really rather not take a closer look at anyway.]
For now.
[He can joke all he wants, it's not going to lighten her mood.
Even after breaking the memory card, Touka still feels like she's letting him off too easily. But....there's not a whole lot else she can do without taking it up a notch. She could make him delete all the shit on his computer. But she'd never be convinced there wouldn't be more backups somewhere else.
Intimidation's probably the best approach. She raises her fist- the one with the crushed memory card in it.]
Just don't disappoint me.
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The biggest thing would be that it would set him back financially to have to buy replacement equipment. Admittedly, doing something to make his life less convenience might be somewhat satisfying at this point, but really doesn't take care of the picture problem.
But hey, if she just wants to crush his memory card and threaten to crush his spine that's enough for him. He wants to explore stories, but he's not interested in brushing up against death again any time soon, and he's alright with not chasing around someone that might rearrange his face for now.
He shouldn't be surprised by the one handed memory card crush either, especially since those things are small and flimsy, but his eyes still go wide as she does that, and he nods slowly, another nervous smile on his face. ]
I'll do my best.
[ He'll just... edge away slowly now. They're done here, right? ]
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And from the looks of things, she won't need to.
Kangmo can go though- Touka won't stop him when he starts edging away. It's probably best that he does leave, before her temper has the chance to flare up again.]
I hope so.
[Which is true, for multiple reasons.
She'll lean against the back of the wall though, and watch to make sure he actually does leave.]
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But she's got nothing to worry about... for now. Kangmo isn't going to stick around and give her a reason to start breaking more of his things.
As soon as she more or less gives the go ahead and he's taking off down the street as fast as possible. No need to threaten him again, he'll avoid being beaten senseless whenever possible. ]