The North Quarter

Alex had smiled when he saw the club. Something like that would be fun, and having another servant inside to boot was fantastic in it's own right. Though one thought crossed his mind in the forefront, there'd be alcohol, and that was to good to pass up.
He briefly looked around, and when he was sure no one was looking, he vanished. He made his way to the wall of the club and walked through, the loud noise and gyrating bodies made him smile, a place like this was going to be fun. He stayed invisible while he walked through the dancers, his hands snatching their wallets from their pockets, them being none the wiser. His master hadn't given him any money, so he had to improvise, after all drinks didn't pay for themselves.
Finding a dark corner, he finally became visible again, and headed to the bar in the back of the club, looking to the bartender he ordered the strongest mixed drink they had. He knew the servant was close, and he was going to enjoy himself while he worked. Receiving his drink and paying for it, he sat back and sipped it, watched the crowd.
 
"Come onn!" A short ways from the bar, Ira was still stood talking with Flo, and the pair of them had been rejoined by a slightly frazzled looking Arty. "It'll be fun, I promise. Won't it be fun, Flo?"

Flo smirked, nodding and kicking Arty lightly in the side of the shin. "It will be. C'mon, live a little, book boy. You'll look good up there."

"You know I don't dance, Flo," Arty shot his friend an accusatory glare at daring to side against him, though he didn't look surprised. "Look, Ira, I'm sure it's fun for you, but I don't like that many people looking at me. I get self conscious."

"Tch," the servant huffed, snaking an arm around the blonde boy's waist. "I don't see why. You've not got anything to be ashamed of. When you look good, people are gonna look at you. And trust me, you'd look good up there. Dancing in a place like this isn't complicated."

Flushing slightly, Arty hesitated, eyeing the platform dubiously. After a few moments, though, he shook his head again. "I'm sorry, Ira, I don't want to," he mumbled, looking away.

Ira eyed the boy consideringly for a moment, before shrugging. "Well, alright. Not tonight. Maybe some other time I'll be able to convince you, but if you really don't want to, I won't push it." He smiled, nudging him in the side playfully. "It'd be no fun if you weren't enjoying it, anyway. So for now... I think we need more drinks."

Wheeling around, he strode back over to the bar, casting a brief glance across at Alex as he did. He took a moment to order a round of drinks, and while he was waiting for them, he turned to face the other servant with a quirk of his eyebrow. "You know, I can't help but compliment you on your 'lurk' there, stranger. Not everyone could pull off ominous lurking at such a busy bar, with so many flashing lights and so much music, but it's like you've brought a dark corner with you. I'm honestly impressed."
 
Alex smiled seductively at the other Servant, as it was clearly the one they were looking for. "Thank you, I prefer to 'lurk' as you put it, as opposed to being in the spotlight." He said before sipping his drink once more, "And may I say, you bring a sort of energy to the area you're in. Like you just brighten up the room when you walk in." He said turning up his chair a bit, his voice taking on a slight lilt and becoming smooth.
"Seemed to have ordered a lot of drinks, they can't all be for you, I imagine you have a few you are ordering for?" He asked raising an eyebrow inquisitively.
 
Ira grinned broadly, evidently enjoying the flattery. "Well, thanks. I try. The spotlight definitely suits me better than dark corners. I like to show people a good time, and it's hard to do that when their eyes aren't on you." At Alex's question he nodded, shooting a glance over at where Flo and Arty were stood. "I'm here with a couple friends I met this morning. We're all tourists, of one sort or another. This city's pretty great, I gotta say. And how about you? I'm going to guess you're not local, going by your accent. You travelling with others, or flying solo?"

As he asked the question, the bartender returned with the round of drinks, and Ira handed over payment. Plucking his own drink from the counter, he turned back to Alex with a smile. He could linger a bit to make a new friend. The others seemed to be keeping themselves busy enough for now. "I'm Ira, by the by," he added after taking a sip of the drink. "And what should I call you, my mysterious lurking new friend?"
 
Ira's personality was almost infectious, almost. Alex smiled back, and with a slight nod answered, "Call me Aiden, and it's a pleasure to meet you Ira," he said, he then turned his head and sipped his drink, "And I'm flying solo at the moment, haven't found anyone to travel with as of yet. I just got in recently and heard that this place was the place to be at night, so I decided to stop by and check it out."
Alex lied about his name as easily as he had stolen the wallets, he wasn't about to give anything close to his real name, just in case Ira discovered who he was. He liked him so far, shame that they'd have to fight at some point.
"And it appears I was told right, this place is very lively, maybe I'll get up later and get some dancing in. It has been a while since I've danced." He said giving Ira a wink. He then gestured to Flo and Arty, "Id hate to have you keep them waiting, why don't we go join them?" He asked with and arched eyebrow.
 
"I would say the pleasure's all mine, but I am usually in the habit of sharing," Ira replied with a grin, golden eyes twinkling with amusement. This one was interesting. And interesting usually meant fun. "Sure, c'mon, I'll introduce you."

Plucking the others' drinks from the bar, Ira sidled back over to them with 'Aiden' in tow, smiling broadly. "I return, and with a new friend to boot," he announced. "Flo, Arty, allow me to introduce Aiden. He's an expert lurker, travelling solo from parts unknown to share his gift with the world,"

Flo quirked an eyebrow, giving Alex an assessing once over. "Nice to meetcha, Aiden. I'm Flo. You're an... expert lurker?" she gave Ira a questioning-but-amused look, in response to which he shrugged, as though it were a perfectly normal title.

"Ah, hey," Arty added, offering the newcomer a faint smile. "I'm Arty. It's good to meet you."

"Aiden tells me that it's been a while since he's danced," Ira went on. "And so I feel it is our solemn duty to amend that situation just as soon as we've finished our drinks. One does not simply walk into a club with me and leave without dancing the night away."
 
Alex smiled at the enthusiasm, "Its a pleasure to meet you two, and as he says I'm an expert 'lurker'" he said giving Ira a wry smile, "And I don't know what gift I could possibly offer, but I'll take it as a compliment."
He took in the other two, and they seemed to be normal enough, nothing about them hinted at any magic. So Ira was alone, that boded well for them, sending a quick telepathic report to Max about the encounter, he smiled at Ira, "And dance the night away we shall." Giving a wink he added, "Hope you can keep up."
 
"Oh, that sounds like a challenge," Ira replied, his eyes lighting up at the idea. "Am I wrong? Wasn't that a challenge?" He glanced across at Flo and Arty, apparently for confirmation.

Snorting, Flo gave Ira a dry look for his theatrics, but nodded. "It was at that."

"Then I'm honour bound to accept." Ira lifted his drink and downed the remainder of it in a few gulps before turning to Alex. "You, me. The dance floor. Five minutes ago." He cast the other servant a wink, handing his glass off to a bemused Arty, before striding back out onto the dance floor. He weaved his way through the crowd with ease until he found a clear enough spot, and turned to wait for the newcomer to join him.
 
Grinning, Alex downed the rest of his drink, it had still been pretty full so he might feel something in a minute, though it was highly unlikely.
Making his way through the crowd deftly and gracefully, while also snagging some more cash from people he passed by, he ended up near It's. Giving the other a grin he said, "After you," giving a slight bow, due to the knowledge he had received, he could dance well in an environment like this, so he could keep up appearances until he was given his next order. And he didn't mind this, Ira was good enough, and was fun to be around, so until the order came, he'd dance.
 
Far from simply keeping up appearances, Ira danced like someone who'd been doing it their whole life. There was nothing especially supernatural about his movements, but he was obviously more than at ease with the music and his own sense of rhythm. He quickly drew attention from some of the dancers who'd seen him up on the platform earlier, and he revelled in it - enjoying the spotlight just as much as he'd said. "Not bad, lurker," he called out to Alex over the music. "But 'not bad' won't cut it if you're trying to compete with the best," he added with a wink. "You know how to move well enough, but if you wanna really make people stare, you've gotta loosen up a little."

He danced a little closer to his counterpart, grinning as he intruded on his personal space (not that there was much of that going around in a place like this). "Drop your guard, let the rhythm in, and just go with it without thinking too much. Your body'll know what to do, if you just let it," he murmured, nudging the other servant with a bump of his hips.

In the meantime, Max had managed to make his way inside, skipping around the queue by using the staff entrance and a little obfuscation magic to get by security. Now, he slipped through the crowd, trying to ignore the haze of alcohol and lust in the air with a slight grimace. This really wasn't his sort of place. Still, Alex was... scouting? Hopefully he was learning something useful. It definitely didn't seem like this servant's master was here, though, which left their options a little limited. They couldn't engage in a fight here, and going servant against servant wasn't the most efficient way to win this war anyway.

Still, there were some potential angles to approach. After getting himself a drink - soft, not alcoholic, since he needed to keep his head - from the bar, he approached the pair of a blonde boy and a redhead girl that Alex had described to him. "Ah, hey," he said, not having to fake being awkward in approaching a pair of random strangers in a club. "Do you mind if I join you? My, uh, friends were supposed to be here but I can't find them."

Flo gave the newcomer a cheerful grin and a thumbs up. "Sure! The more the merrier, am I right, Arty?"

"Ah, yeah, no problem," the boy agreed, nodding.

"Thanks," Max smiled, memorising the pair's features. All he needed to do was place something on their person, and potentially he'd be able to track them, even if he couldn't track the servant. He'd no intention of harming either, but if the servant decided to ... indulge in some human vices, there was a chance that he'd take them somewhere that could lead to his master.

As he chatted with the pair, he kept half an eye on the dance floor where Alex was. That redhead he was with was the other servant. Giving him an assessing look over, he might have guessed. The people in the club seemed drawn to him, although Max sensed no magic on any of them, and his appearance seemed almost unrealistically ... well kept, considering his surroundings. Even the slight messiness to his clothes and hair seemed deliberate. Whoever this servant was, it was obvious that they were vain, and enjoyed attention. That was something that could be used against them, potentially.

For the time being, he would simply observe, try and find an opportunity to bug one of the two civilians, and leave Alex to... that.
 
Assassin stifled a soft chuckle when Daichi gave his thoughts on confronting the fetching woman, and said little as his Master weighed his choices, before eventually settling on making some friends and enemies. He wondered if it would be a worthy gamble, considering that if their presence was to even be made known at all, even if it was as trivial as just being seen at all, then that would compromise a portion of their element of surprise, but alas, he was the Servant here, and if his Master wanted to take this option, then who was he to disagree? After all, despite all the cons, there were more than a few pros to... socializing, if nothing else. And besides... They'd have to be caught first, beyond anything else.

Dissipating into his spirit form as Daichi left, following his Master, his thoughts remained muted, hardly even single-minded. There wasn't much more to think about at this point without taking some action, so perhaps it was just as well.

As they eventually reached the general location of the bar after several minutes of walking, he listened silently to Daichi's brief musing, which led into his next suggestion. Remaining in his invisible spirit form, his voice was only audible to Daichi as he spoke.

"The Southern Quarter, then? Very well, as you wish. Let us make haste then," he simply responded.
 
At the challenging from Ira, and the slight nudge he got, he grinned. This one was cheeky, so he responded in turn by nudging Ira back, and leaning in and whispering, "let's see just exactly what my body wants eh?" He whispered with a grin. He then turned up his dancing, and began to sync his movements with Ira's. And as he did this he made them turn so he could see Max with Flo and Arty.
I have him distracted, do what you must, he said to Max telepathically.
His movements became fluid and aimed to keep Ira's attention on him, there was no telling who ruler had told about him yet, so until his master was out of sight, he'd indulge himself while distracting this servant.
 
Max cast a brief glance towards Alex again at the telepathic message. Yep. That definitely looked distracting. It wouldn’t have been his choice of method, but… he couldn’t deny it’s effectiveness. Thankfully, it didn’t take him too long to find an opportunity. It was a simple bit of sleight of hand, to flick the tiny bug into the girl’s bag without her noticing. The club’s pulsing lights disguised the signs of movement, and her attention was elsewhere – on the dance floor.

He had his doubts over whether this servant would be foolish enough to take a civilian back to wherever his master was, but keeping track of this girl’s location could prove useful either way. He maintained the conversation for a few minutes longer for the sake of politeness, but as the song was coming to a close, he made his excuses and slipped away back into the crowd. As he did, he took his phone out and shot Alex a text. “I’m done here. No master around as far as I can tell. I’m going back outside to wait, when he leaves, follow him – either keep up your cover or use stealth, your choice. I’ll follow at a safe distance so you can continue masking yourself. If we’re lucky he’ll lead us to his master.”

In the meantime, Ira let out an appreciative whistle as the song faded out and there was a brief lull before the next one. “Not bad,” he remarked, shooting Alex a grin. “Not bad. I’m pretty sure I’m winning so far, but you learn quickly. Wouldn’t have guessed you’d have it in you. The broody corner-types aren’t usually dancers.”
 
Alex shrugged at that, "True, I prefer other activities to dancing" he said as they left the dance floor, he was smiling at Ira, "And you most certainly did, you got the groove." He said with a smirk, as they got back to the others and Alexs phone buzzed in his pocket, pulling it out, he looked at it. The message was from Max, and his orders were clear, he sent a quick confirmation of his objective and pocketed the phone.
Looking at the group he said, "So what's next? The nights still young." He would hang with them for a while, before coming up with an excuse to leave. After that he'd tail them invisibly, hopefully they'd lead him to Ira's place of residence.
 
The night progressed onwards in much the same vein into the early hours of the morning, until the mortals in the group were just about ready to drop. At some point 'Aidan' was able to excuse himself, although he suffered from many accusations made of weakness and lack of partying spirit upon his departure. It wasn't until around two in the morning that Ira and his two friends piled out of the club, still wired on a mix of alcohol and party-fuelled adrenaline.

"Ohh, that's good," Flo declared, spreading her arms out and letting the cool night air rush around her. "Fresh, cool air... I feel like I've been in a microwave... uhhg, I'm so sweaty,"

Ira grinned across at her. "Worth it, though, am I right? All the best kinds of good time make you break a little sweat."

"Mmhm, they do..." mumbled Arty, half-propped against Ira's side. The continuous flow of alcohol had hit him a bit harder than his more experienced friend, which had turned out to be a good thing, as he'd lost a little of his nerves as the night progressed. "Arre we going back to the hotel noowww Flo?"

Flo rolled her shoulders in a shrug, smirking. "We could do that, I guess. It's pretty late, and you're gonna be so hungover tomorrow it's dumb."

"Awh... I don't wanna though, I wanna stay ... out," he grumbled in reply. "'s not that late. Stay up later playin' games most nights..."

"Hmm, well, hear me out here..." Ira interjected, grinning. "I could always come with you. We could have fun that isn't 'out'."

Going red, Arty looked off to the side. "I, uh... maybe we could do that, yeah."

"Tch," Flo folded her arms in faux-huffiness. "I see how it is. And that was where I thought my night was going..."

Ira cast her a playful look, quirking an eyebrow. "The two aren't mutually exclusive,"

"Ookay, let me stop you there bud," Flo held up a hand. "I've known this guy since we were eight, and we're close, but we're not that close. I don't wanna make things weird. So you guys have fun, but I'll pass on that particular awkward threeway."

"Yeah... that'd be weird," Arty nodded emphatically, eyeing Flo with suspicion. "She always steals all the boys anyway... it's my turn."

To his credit, Ira only briefly looked disappointed, before flashing a grin and shrugging. "Your loss, his gain," he said to Flo, before looking down at Arty with that same grin. "This way you get my undividided attention..."

The flirting and giggling continued all the way back to the hotel, until the trio parted ways in the halls, with Flo disappearing into one room and Ira and Arty into another.


Outside the hotel, Max stood looking up at the building with a frown. He couldn't sense any magic on the place, aside from the well of power that was the servant. There were no mages that he could pick up on, and there were none of the wards that he'd expect to find on a place one of them was using as a stronghold. So it was a dead end, for now. Unless he staked out the place till the morning, and tried to follow the servant to wherever he went then, and that was unlikely to work. He couldn't keep up with a servant that wasn't being slowed down by mortals, and although Alex could, once he got too far away the servant would know he was being followed.

Sighing, Max turned and walked away from the hotel, waiting for Alex to return. Hopefully he'd have learned something useful over the course of the night, but if not, at least they had the location of these mortals the servant was involving himself with. That could come in handy, at least.
 
@Ver (Sorry for the long wait lappy problems)
4:00pm

Daichi and Assassin had reached the first hotel in their vicinity, it was named the Soft Pebble Hotel. Looking through his mystic code he could see a multitude of souls inhabitting the building but nothing special, still better to be safe. Casting a simple bounded field to make people ignore his actions, Daichi began summoning a soul from his skull he began to channel his prana in it taking control. Watching through the eyes of his familiar sense for any magical traces, he went through the various floors sensing for magic.

Doing this for 30 minutes he called back his familiar before getting up from the bench. "Well this place is clean besides a few ghosts but i dont't need to restock." Daichi said looking at his servant He continued "Lets hit up a few more hotels before we retire for the night, I might aswell show you the base after this." Continuing to there next destination the pair walked without a word.

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8:00pm

Walking along the streets back to the west gate, Daichi began to think. 'Weve mostly, gone through at least 3 hotels well I better write off Venus's Desire as a hotel seeing as its more of a privacy service.' placing a hand on his chin. 'Still it's best to have assassin scout around at midnight for now its best we get home and rest.' walking through the gate they proceeded back to their base.
 
After excusing himself and making his way 'out' of the club, Alex continued to watch the group as the night progressed, looking and listening for anything he could use. As the group left the club around two in the morning, Alex followed behind invisibly, he kept an eye and ear in the group while also keeping in range of his master, as to not blow his cover.
As the group made their way to the hotel and split up, with Ira going of with one of the humans for some nighttime fun, Alex went through the hotel, searching every room for anything worth checking. Alas, he didn't find anything he could use.
Figuring that nothing more could be gathered as of right now, he left the hotel and made his way back to his master.
As he rejoined Max, and after he made sure no one was looking, he became visible once more.
"I searched through the hotel, nothing to report, the servant went off with the male for some 'fun' time. The female went to her own room." He told Max as he walked, "The servant was smart and didn't bring them back to his base, instead he used a hotel for his escapades."
 
Assassin mentally sighed as he remained in spirit form throughout the hours. He never considered himself an easily restless individual, but he would be lying if his being didn't ache for more to do, not that his Master was really doing anything wrong. After all, strength came in caution and making sure that everything was accounted for. Perhaps this was a side effect of being laid in sleep for so long within the Throne of Heroes; feeling a need to live, rather than simply "existing." Still, hopefully his time would come, if nothing else. This war so far was proving to be interesting enough, if "diverting" or "amusing" wasn't the right word for it. A Ruler here, a conspiracy there. What wasn't to enjoy so far?

As the hours passed and the Servant remained in his spirit form (not that there was much need to at this point, he really could have walked alongside if he felt so inclined, considering his attire would only have gotten one or two strange looks probably), Assassin could see that his Master was in deep thought. If he was, then the Servant felt privy to his thoughts -- at least, the ones on top. Brief their relationship may be, being the first day of the War, but their bond should have been just rounded enough that they were able to connect with each other telepathically, as the relationship between a Servant and a Master went. Attempting to get a piece of his enigmatic Master's thoughts, Assassin began to communicate with Daichi.

"So then, Master," he began, his voice inaudible to everyone around but Daichi, "Assuming our patrol is concluded for now, are we headed back to... wherever our place of rest might be?"
 
"I expected as much," Max answered, giving Alex a small smile and shrugging. "It would have been a little optimistic to think we could track down a master's base of operations based off a chance encounter in a single night, so I'm not too disappointed. We have time, and I placed a bug in the girl, Flo's handbag, in the event that it might be useful."

Putting his hands in his pockets as they walked, Max began to make his way back in the direction of the subway hideout. "You were ah, remarkably at home on that dance floor," he noted with a tone of amusement. "Was that something the grail taught you, or did you have the..." he suppressed a small laugh as he continued "...'bump and grind' back in your world too?"
 
Alex let out a laugh, "No, we didn't have such music when I was alive, ours was much less refined and involved alot more spilled beer." He said with a grin, "And I was not really trying to be honest, had to keep up appearances and all."
Turning and grinning at Max he said, "if it had come down to it, he wouldn't have lasted two minutes on the dance floor with me." He wasn't a slouch, and he certainly wouldn't have passed such a challenge so easily. Had it not been for the sake of blending in, he would've given it his all.
 
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