004 | Video (Backdated to 11:05pm Tuesday June 5th)

[herrstory]

[ Starr kicks off the video in Chilton's office, sitting at his desk. Chilton's nameplate has been replaced with another one reading: Dr. Herr K. Starr ]

It seems Doctor Chilton has ported out. So until further notice, I will be taking over the Maurtia Falls Psychiatric Hospital for Abnormal Conditions. Staff is to immediately report to me for evaluation and policy updates.

For the time being, we will not be accepting patients unless in the most dire of circumstances -- in which case, I will be able to implement shock therapy. In my humble opinion, such therapy does work best when placed upon ones genitals, but I will leave that up to the patient.

[ He pulls out a notepad, puts on Chilton's reading glasses, and picks up an entirely too fancy pen. ]

Now simply because we will not immediately be taking patients does not mean we cannot get you in the system. So let's start this with the basic question most psychiatrists are sure to ask: what is your deepest, darkest sexual fantasy?

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[setmatch]

Start with a drink and see where it goes. You strike me as someone who can hold their liquor.

[ More like he’s interested in potential clients. Or defendants. Might as well get a little inside information. But there’s a pause, and then he switches to German. ]

« Herr. Are you from Germany? »

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[herrstory]

[ This switch is...surprising. But not unwelcome. ]

I am. [ He responds, also in German. ] Hamburg, Germany. Why do you ask?

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[setmatch]

[ He's full of surprises, Herr Doctor. ]

Merely have missed speaking in my mother tongue. I'm sure you do as well. I'm from Cologne myself.

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[herrstory]

I do. Although my job typically awards me travel perks back home, I have been in America far too long. There is another man here by the name of Hans Gruber who is also German.

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[setmatch]

Well, then, we're already finding common ground. Perhaps a drink with you wouldn't be too bad after all.

Dare I ask what your job back home was? You don't seem to be the psychiatric sort. More... action oriented than probative.

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[herrstory]

I was military. So your assumption would be correct. I assume you are involved in law? Is that how you and Chauncy Anderson know one another?</i?

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[setmatch]

Correct. I was an ADA, Mr. Anderson was a defense attorney. We've crossed paths more than once.

Once I pass the Bar here, though, I believe I will be switching sides of the courtroom. 15 years of experience as an ADA- I know every law and how to argue it. Hence my interest in your little proclamation on the network.

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[herrstory]

Ah. So you wish to aid me in the legalities of this...should it come to question?

[ It won't come to question. Starr will probably murder any police that get close -- if they bother coming at all. BUT...that makes having a defense attorney even more useful, probably. ]

When are you scheduled to take your exam?

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[setmatch]

Yes, I do.

[ More specifically, speaking to Chilton to make sure that this hospital is up to code and won't be getting any lawsuits any time soon. A place to put criminally dangerous imports? Good idea. Having it shut down because the proper paperwork wasn't filed? Not such a good one. ]

The exam is next month. After that, I'll be able to practice again. Should my services be needed, please, consider me.

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[herrstory]

Consider yourself considered. Now then, when did you wish to get this drink?

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[setmatch]

I'm free tonight. Maurita Falls? I know a bar.

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[herrstory]

I will be a bit busy for a few hours. Going over things here. But if you do not mind a late evening, I could arrive once I finish.

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[setmatch]

I'm a bit of a night owl- I certainly don't mind a late evening. I'll text you the address.

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[herrstory]

Much appreciated. I shall see you there.

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[setmatch]

[ It's a surprisingly quiet bar in Maurita Falls. More of a lounge type than a dive bar. He keeps to the corner, back to the wall, watching and waiting for Starr to enter.

Idly, he checks his phone, re-reading the warning messages from Chauncy. The man, supposedly, is dangerous.
And so is he.

He orders himself a whiskey, sipping slowly as he waits and watches. ]

[herrstory]

[ If Herr Starr makes plans, he damn well keeps to those plans. And so, after he's had as much reading and invasion of Chilton's privacy as he can stand, he sends David the message that he's on his way and arrives shortly thereafter -- dressed in a finely tailored white suit with a red tie, striking and unmissable as he enters.

It takes him a moment to spot David, the man having taken to the corner, and Starr heads over to him -- a hand offered for a shake. ]

I am surprised you are still alone.

[ He keeps to German, which also awards its own sort of privacy. ]

[setmatch]

[ It's hard to miss the stranger who approaches him. That immaculately tailored white suit, a splash of red from the tie like a hidden gash oozing his lifeblood down his chest.

He stands, polite, one hand on the table as the other reaches out and shakes his. Firm. Self-assured. David projects strength, as he does with all things, when he takes this stranger's hand. ]

I tend to go out of my way to avoid unnecessary attention.

[ Which is to say, he turned down anyone who tried to sit with him, returned any drink that might have been offered to him. He isn't here for idle flattery or seductions.

This is simply business. ]

May I buy you a drink, Herr Starr?

[herrstory]

[ He nodded after David's question, not asking where the man accumulated enough money to treat people to drinks -- those details weren't really something he cared about. David could be murdering people for cash and well, Starr wouldn't really bat an eye. Instead, he simply requested a whiskey on the rocks before settling down opposite the man.

He kept a one-eyed gaze on him, unblinking for a moment as he took him in, assessed him, wondered if David was far more lax than his counterpart Chauncy. ]

So you are not someone who enjoys his time wasted. Good. I tend not to be either. So. What is your asking price for your services? Particularly ongoing services? Would it all be a cash transaction? Or. Do you tend to expect other forms of currency?

[ Some people wanted influence. Some people wanted unlimited access to whores. Some people played another game entirely. Was David as straight-laced as he appeared to be? ]

[setmatch]

[ A whiskey on the rocks- a man after his own heart. The next a server passes by, he grabs them at the elbow and whispers the order into their ear. Top shelf. The good stuff. It isn't that he has the money- oh, no, he's still on the government stipend that they gave him. But, well. He has always enjoyed the 'kindness' of strangers.

A little manipulation also helped.

When he turns to Starr to see himself fixed with that single eye, he smiles. Calm and cool and collected. Even if he is closed off, he does not present himself as such- no need to chase away potential allies. ]

Gods, you speak of me as if I'm a hitman. [ He chuckles, amused ] I've yet to establish an hourly rate for those paying with cash, credit, or check. But I've come to believe that the most valuable currency available to me in this new and strange world is favors.

[ Perhaps a little more blunt that he'd prefer, but he senses Starr is honest when he says he is not a man who enjoys his time wasted. Good. He may as well unveil what he wants- an in.

This Chilton runs a psychiatric hospital. One that, supposedly, houses or treats the dangerous imports. And Starr runs his security. Works as a temporary leader while Chilton is away.

There are vague plans. Notions. Perhaps a bit of a push on the right people to cause a disaster. Perhaps a shove in the right direction to get some proper legislation rolling. Ends, means. David intends to build something worthwhile. Devil hang the details. ]

[herrstory]

Are you not in a sense? Lawyers can be ruthless, out to defeat their opposition for the right price -- doing whatever it takes. Defense lawyers in particular have to make the difficult decision to forego what might be morally right and instead support their client.

[ Starr glances up when his whiskey arrives, accepting it in his hand and raising it to his lips for a hearty swallow. The liquor is set on the table before them. ]

Also the way you say this, I am inclined to believe you may mean sexual favors.

[setmatch]

Ah, but all men are supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Hence the morality of the Defense. They should receive a fair trial.

[ He pauses at the last comment, however. Brings his own whiskey to his lips. Buying his time to think of an appropriate answer.

There is, of course, the righteous indignation. The outrage of the very question, as if David is prostituting himself- or asking Starr to- for his services. There is the quiet laugh and categorical denial, clarifying what he means. And there is the last-

He smiles. And sets down his glass. ]

I must say, I should have been clearer in my meaning. [ He's all smiles now. Amping up his natural charm. He doesn't rely on his supernatural abilities- oh no, not with this man. ]

It would be immoral of me to demand sex as payment. Merely a meeting with the right people, or a word in the right here. However... [ His fingertips trace the rim off the glass, his eyes do not leave Starr's. ]

What you propose isn't off the table outside of my office hours.

[herrstory]

[ Starr is mildly entertained by the display -- the charming smile, the stirring of David's fingertip on his glass. He says nothing to the part about presuming innocence. Starr is often the judge, jury, and executioner in his line of work back home. But he does understand the necessity of what David does. Particularly here, where he doesn't have the backing and protection of the Grail. ]

You must understand I care little for morality or immorality when it comes to two, consenting individuals. All that matters is discretion. Of which I am certain both of us have.

[ David seems far less prudish than Chauncy, at least!! Although Starr does have to wonder how adventurous David is when it comes down to it. ]

Tell me, do you tend to be more of a sadist or a masochist?

[setmatch]

[ Discretion may be the better part of valor, but it still won't save him before an ethics board or the Bar Association. All the same, he does have t in him to keep a relationship a secret. Had he not, for two years? And then, that was even more ethically questionable than sleeping with a client. ]

I have to say I haven't really had the chance to experience either. However I am quite open to new experiences.

[ Even if he usually preferred taking control. Grasping it and pinning his lover down. Tying them, choking them, claiming them as his... ]

[herrstory]

That is more than can be said for most around here.

[ Spoken with a hint of disdain. For the large part, Starr found the imPorts here rather lacking in interest. Chilton had collected some of the better ones at his hospital, but Starr wouldn't fuck any of them. With the exception of Chilton. And potentially Harley. And maybe Jack. ]

You will find a large amount of our numbers are dull, not open to new experiences, living within their own self-made box. A comfortable prison of their own sins.

[setmatch]

I find most of humanity to be as such. Seldom do people risk the unknown until they are forced into it. And then their reaction is to flee, to run back and hide in their little shells. To return to normalcy. Rarely do the tested actually rise to seek greatness, even if they have the opportunity thrust upon them.

[ Its very blunt, the way he speaks. His own experiences tempering his mood. Many of his companions had been afraid. Few had taken up the call to greatness as he had. Niko had only joined him out of fear of his own death. Ximena for her bloodlust, Charlotte for her greed. The others had scattered like ashes to the wind.

And he... He had been Icarus flying towards the sun. Only to have the woman he considered a sister to pay for his hubris. ]