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*'''Log:''' .cats and crimE *'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Yuliana Kafim]], [[Character :: Regina Everhart]] *'''Where:''' The Caracal's Paw Cafe, Krugis *'''Date:''' 2023-08-04 *'''Summary''': ''Yuliana meets with Regina after a Celestial Being handover. At a cat cafe! Nothing terrible is hinted at.'' ---- [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Phase 1, Turn 3]] <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed. <poem> There are, of course, favours Yuliana does for their mutual friends. Like the way she brushes against someone walking in the opposite direction, down a busy street in Ilam. It's not the first time she's visited -- but this time she's in much more inconspicuous clothing, a cloak not so dissimilar to the ones which keep the sun from Krugis shoulders, covering a green blouse and long black skirt. (There's a kerchief, wrapped about her neck, under her cloak. It's a delightful shade of purple and blue.) And so distracted might someone be by noticing her appearance that they might miss entirely the data stick which passes from her palm to theirs, as she jostles past one particular agent. It's only later -- With the all-clear texted to the powers which be, Yuliana seats herself in the Caracal's Paw Cafe, which is, in fact -- A cat cafe. It's a cat cafe. She's come to take tea in a cat cafe. There aren't ''caracals'' here to pet, regrettably, but there are ''friendly cats.'' Yuliana buys some cat treats along with her cake and tea, and she's busy plying the friendship of one curious tabby with a little fish-shaped treat while her tea cools. "Puss puss puss, puss puss puss..." Terrifying. </poem> <Pose Tracker> Regina Everhart has posed. <poem> A passerby is jostled. A data stick is surreptitiously transferred - which is then transferred to the right hands. Confirmation is sent on both hands... ...And so, Regina makes her to the designated meet-up point - the Caracal's Paw Cafe. The name isn't literal. But there ''are'' still cats. ...She has as much experience with cat cafes as she has with the normal kind - which is to say, not much. So, she pauses in her tracks, staring down as her entrance into the cafe finds herself met with several sets of wide, demanding eyes staring up at her. ...She's been designated an easy mark, it seems, and she finds herself swarmed even as she moves to take her seat across from Yuliana. "It has..." Regina starts her greeting - shifting herself just a bit to move her own tea out of lapping range of a cat and passing over a treat as an offering - "...Been a while." </poem> <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed. <poem> "It has, hasn't it?" Yuliana asks, as she coaxes the tabby onto her lap. "Awww, baby," and ''that's'' for the cat, obviously, because her tone shifts three notes higher and she gets a big ol' grin and gets distracted petting him. He has a magnificent purr. "You are ''such'' a good boy! Who are you?" Scritch scritch scritch, she checks the little heart shaped tag on his collar, and finds his name is: "Aww, Mirjah!" Yuliana makes a bunch more utterly vapid cat proximity vocalisations. Luckily, she demonstrates correct cat handling by scratching Mirjah behind the ears and every so often presenting her hand to him so he can decide just where he wants those scritches to go. (He loves the earscritches. He's got these big ol' orange ears on either side of his head like he's half lynx.) Finally he decides he's had enough scritching for the moment, and settles down on her lap, and ''that's'' when Yuliana can pick her spoon up and take a spoonful of cake. (The Caracal's Paw serves every meal with utensils specifically because they've anticipated their clients petting cats all throughout lunch.) "Regina, isn't it?" Yuliana asks her, as if she hadn't just completely ignored her to get wrapped up in a cat. No court would convict her. "I'm Yuliana, if you don't recall," she adds. "Yuliana Kafim. Or 'Verdiska', if we're in a fight, but I'm afraid my cover's a shade tattered these days." She adds: "I wouldn't worry about opsec here. It's a sleepy enough place, and, well..." She looks over to a man on the other side of the room who is ALSO completely engrossed in playing with a cat, dangling one of the little feather toys which come at every table. "Let's just say the patrons are occupied." The cat cafe was a dastardly plan, and not just Yuliana being a cat lover! Probably. Two things can be true at once. </poem> <Pose Tracker> Regina Everhart has posed. <poem> Regina nods in agreement. Fortunately, it's easy enough for her tell which vocalizations are meant for her and which are for the cat - and she's patient enough that she doesn't mind giving her all the time she needs to ensure that the cat has been sufficiently attended too. ...As for Regina herself, her swarm has largely settled down, and can currently be found sitting on her or clinging to her in various positions. Two vie for her lap - both receive pets in equal amounts. It's impressive that she can maintain a straight face, even while covered in cats. "That's correct." Regina confirms with a nod, as if she hadn't just been completely ignored in favor of a cat - and then, a nod again. "I remember you. We visited your home." It had been Ujico's idea - but she did help prepare a meal for everyone. Yuliana tells her not to worry about opsec, and the reason why is clear. Regina follows her line of sight, and then nods in understanding. "...I see. A potent camouflage." She notes. She hesitates, for just a second. "...How is your wife?" She asks. She's not really used to smalltalk... but, that seems like a safe topic. </poem> <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed. <poem> "Ah, good! I'm so glad you remember." Yuliana smiles, as if ''she'' didn't have some earth-shattering trauma happening days after that pleasant holiday dinner which soundly disrupted her memories. She's really very good at not mentioning those. Yuliana takes a bite of cake, only for a calico to spring up onto her shoulders and make that prospect a shade more perilous. "Ahh -- Beebee? Beebee, I'm trying to... no, no, this is ''people'' food, let me..." She puts her spoon down, takes another fish-shaped treat, and feeds that to her brand-new feather boa cat. Thus Beebee's terror is satiated, and she settles down on a shoulder to watch proceedings, instead. "Cute animals are really the ultimate distraction," she adds, as if she wasn't just ultimately distracted. But she brightens, and shifts, at once, to her favourite topic: "She's doing well, how nice of you to ask! She took me to the opera, last week -- a showing of Lortzing's ''Undine'' -- why, it was absolutely lovely." No matter how much Yuliana fails her, Elisa's never failed ''Yuliana,'' and it's clear how wonderful she is in Yuliana's dreamy description. "... and what of you, Regina?" Yuliana finally remembers to reciprocate instead of just going on about her wife (who is, we remind the audience, her favourite topic). "How have you fared, of late? Any interesting projects..?" </poem> <Pose Tracker> Regina Everhart has posed. <poem> Regina nods. It isn't long before their conversation is interrupted by another cat - or, perhaps it is their conversation that's interrupting the ''cats'' - and she waits patiently as Beebee is tended to. "...Yes." Regina confirms with a nod - and actually manages the slightest of smiles. Recognition shows on her face, too, as Yuliana mentions the opera. "'Undine'. I've never been to a performance, but... I've read it. A while ago." Regina notes. "I'm glad to hear she's doing well." And the topic turns to her. "I'm well. I haven't met with success in my personal endeavors... but I at least have completed my directives without incident." She replies. She says that like that's the important thing, there. </poem> <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed. <poem> "Perhaps we should go sometime," Yuliana says, lightly. "It's a wonderful experience. And it's useful to know how to comport yourself in situations of society... as those are the most convenient places for a great many activities." Murder. She's talking about going into high society and doing a murder. Yuliana takes a sip of tea, and manages to do so without disturbing her shoulder cat ''or'' her lap cat, such is Yuliana's talent. She notices the way Regina talks about herself, of course. And so: "My Elisa and I fixed up a wanzer, just the other day -- well, I'll admit I took most of the task on, but it's best I involve her in work like that." See? Hobbies! "And I just got done building a model Da Xukong 0! Rather from scratch, you understand. I'd be surprised if anyone made a kit of such a prototype." She taps her teacup back down on the saucer, and gives Mirjah another scritch. He still has a magnificent purr. "I'll be taking action to claim some significant resources from the warlords, soon... just as soon as my intelligence man manages to triangulate some final details. I wasn't ''directed'' to do so, of course, but I understand it's an endorsed action. Unfortunately, now I've been driven from the Federation, I'm more limited in what I can achieve..." Yuliana sighs, looking over, to her shoulder cat. "Well, it's too bad for them they trained their saboteur so well, I suppose." </poem> <Pose Tracker> Regina Everhart has posed. <poem> Regina thinks that over for a moment before nodding. "Yes. If the opportunity arises I think that would be... good." She decides. "...Yes, I understand how that would be convenient knowledge to have." The deeper underlying meaning, however, goes unnoticed. Of everything she was taught, assassination wasn't one of them. "A wanzer... you're a mechanic, then. A good way to spend a day with someone you love." Regina notes with interest. It's possible she's heard that before - but this is her first time hearing it from Yuliana herself. "A model... That's...?" ...''That'', conversely, takes an awkward moment before she figures it out, piecing things together. "...Ah, a miniature replica, then. That's impressive." Regina eventually concludes. Next, Yuliana talks business, and she listens intently. "Any movement that limits the damage they are able to cause is worthy of praise. You are doing enough." Regina assures. "...Indeed." </poem> <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed. <poem> "It's really ''so'' convenient how people don't wear bulletproof vests to the gala," Yuliana jokes, as if Regina's in on it. She said she understood, so clearly she gets it! "Terribly unfashionable, you know. ''Completely'' unflattering to the chest, even if it's good for the waistline." And if this has any application to Yuliana's current appearance, don't worry about it. She's normal. She brightens with less malevolent humour, though, when Regina notices she's a mechanic. "Yes!" She chirps, brightly. "And -- yes, yes, a replica. I got into them after my Elisa became worried about the work I did on war-weapons... well, of course I never wish to worry her, but I admit I missed working on mobile suits so freely. So I tried scaling my engineering work. It's quite interesting, really!" Her marriage is also normal. Yuliana takes another few bites of cake, once she's determined that Beebee will permit her to eat. She is a benevolent shoulder god. "I'm so glad you think so," she smiles, after Regina recognises her efforts. "I do try terribly hard! For some reason, it's easy to misinterpret my efforts... it's awfully strange. I never thought of myself as someone particularly difficult to read, at least for the average person!" She laughs, lightly, as if she's said a delightful joke. Her powers are super normal. "Well, I suppose there's one thing I can say for the Federation betraying me as they did," she says, reaching forward to take her teacup for another sip. (She has a steady hand, so Mirjah is safe from hot drips. It helps that these cups are designed to be spill-resistant to save their feline friends from tragedy.) "I no longer have to hold the contradiction of patriotism and truth in my head, now it's cleared. Tcha... one day I'll make them pay." </poem> <Pose Tracker> Regina Everhart has posed. <poem> The subtle is made overt. Regina's expression is normally hard to read, but that slightly uncomfortable shift is visible enough. One of the cats clinging to her is dislodged, and as a result trots off to find another. "...Yes. I see." Regina replies, after a moment of hesitation. She recovers a little when the topic changes. "I see... Yes, that would minimize the dangers while allowing you to continue to indulge yourself." Regina observes. "A fine compromise." As for people misinterpreting her... The average person... what does that make her, then...? "...Mm. This will happen. We can only move forward." She decides. That's all the advice she can offer, really. But, Yuliana declares that she will make the Federation pay for betraying her. "...Then, I wish you luck in your endeavors." Regina replies. It's at this moment that one of her alarms goes off. "...Excuse me." She draws out her phone, checks it with a frown, and looks up. "I'm afraid I'll need to get moving to meet the next train. Still... thank you. This has been... nice." Regina decides, standing up. She's learned a lot about Yuliana today. ...''Quite'' a lot, in some cases. </poem> <Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed. <poem> Yuliana notices Regina's hesitation, and, if anything, looks mildly ''surprised'' about it. She's polite enough not to ask her what she thought they were doing if not murder, at least, and makes a quiet note to direct her ''away'' from assassination work. ... well, the type where you have to look a man in the eyes, anyway. The wonderful thing about mobile suits is how easy they make killing people. Yuliana smiles, when Regina recognises the logic. "It is, isn't it? And even after all that, my Elisa's welcomed me working on things so long as I involve her in the process... ahh, she really is the reasonable one, between us." She is, naturally, completely lovestruck to detail Elisa's wonderful traits which are the most positive things to exist. According to Yuliana, Regina is, naturally, a completely average person. Of course she is! She correctly interpreted Yuliana was helping! "Ah, I appreciate it," Yuliana smiles -- and she might have said more, if not for that alarm. "Oh? Oh, yes! Please, don't let me keep you -- I'll handle the bill." And leave a generous tip, as she does. "It's been wonderful to speak with you. I ''am'' glad to see you again," she emphasises, just in case her earlier cover story about forgetting the details of the party didn't land. She stays at the cafe for a while, because, of course, it's less suspicious if they leave separately. The fact that she gets to pet a horde of cats is beside the point. </poem>