old strings pull, and with them, comes gabriel's attention. he steps out of the black SUV and onto the sidewalk. it was a surprisingly tame affair, despite two CEOs meeting, but he didn't much mind.
[break][break]
"how could i say no to the son of an old friend?" he doesn't bow himself, but his head cranes to regard the building, before turning a placid gaze onto jayden.
[break][break]
"i'm looking forward to touring your faculties, and seeing what work you've carried on in your father's stead."

[attr="class","notes"]jayden cross[break]

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

"of course, sir."

[break][break] it's a bit intimidating to meet GABRIEL BLACK , who not only is his father's old business contact but also a man who has quite the powerful hold on the region. even so, it's a necessary move to make. jayden knows that better than anyone.

[break][break] he holds the door open for the councilman, leading them first into the building. aside from a few construction staff that are still putting spackle on the walls and finishing adjustments on a nearby painting, the hallway is nearly empty as they walk through the front-desk are and down a much longer hallway.

[break][break] "i'm not sure how much you already know, so i'll start from the beginning. the board would like wyndon cross to become the forefront of pharmacuticals in hoenn," he says, pressing a button that opens another set of glassdoors. "as we have in galar."

[break][break] "our plans are first to start in rustboro city and expand outward. after all, with everything that is going on, there is likely to be a big need for advancements in pokemon medicine."

[break][break] "we are still in the hiring process to have our engineers and scientists on-board, but we do have one of our labs set up already. would you like see it?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] GABRIEL BLACK

gabriel raises his hand to stop the entourage behind him, forcing at least one of them to stagger in mid-step.[break][break]


"i'll be fine from here. keep the car running." the councilman didn't wait for his words to process, instead pushing on to follow the younger man ahead of him.
[break][break]
as they walk, and misha explains, gabriel says nothing. a CEO himself, he understands the necessities; the pitch, the tour, the amenities. each word is absorbed and filed away methodically, all the while his gaze as placid as the surface of a lake at morning. at the offer of a more pointed direction, he nods once.
[break][break]

"i would."

[attr="class","notes"]jayden cross[break]

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

"excellent, just this way then."

[break][break] he leads the other through the newly-built facilities with ease. there are few others that interrupt him, as he swipes his badge against one of the porygon-monitored detectors. pixels on the screen guarantee him entry and soon enough, they are walking through sliding glass doors towards a mostly empty lab.

[break][break] "as you know, it's important for our labs to run if we want to ship product to our consumers." a pause, looking around at the mostly empty laboratory. "in order for them to run, we need equipment." it's not that he expects GABRIEL BLACK to supply them. no, it's just a means to an end. "and a supplier to ship them."

[break][break] he had sent the paperwork all over to gabe's office. or rather, the board had. this was just a formality, a meeting between two men conducting business.

[break][break] "what do you think, sir?"

[attr="class","ooc"] GABRIEL BLACK

gabriel is silent the majority of the tour, eyes betraying no inner thoughts as he walks the compound. even as it comes to an end, his appraisal does not.
[break][break]
"an impressive complex," he adds with an even tone, turning a swaying head onto the smaller man in-front of him. the resemblance to his father was uncanny, yet something beneath that thought told him that, perhaps, it was just another façade.
[break][break]
"but, i'm not entirely convinced this speaks to me." his attention weighs heavily on jayden, despite no change his expression. "who are your investors?"

[attr="class","notes"]jayden cross[break]

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

"casper reyes and @calhoun ," he says. "at least, initially. there are a few more pending offers on the table but to be perfectly candid with you sir —"

[break][break] a pause as he glances upwards at him.

[break][break] "your support would be invaluable."

[break][break] for more reasons than one. not only was GABRIEL BLACK a man of means, but his connection with his own father meant that he was a man who could be trusted. he was sure that gabriel was already aware of dmitri volkov's influence, and the connections that he held with less than shadier means. despite that, the black patriarch had a stronger stomach than other league officials.

[break][break] "one moment."

[break][break] he steps away from the council member and walks over to the edge of the laboratory, punching some numbers in an ice-cold safebox. when he reappears at gabriel's side, he offers a small container which was only labeled as silver sulfadiazine 1%.

[break][break] "if you would like to see, our scientists in galar proved this to be useful for our burn victims," he said. "it has a soothing agent that is fast acting."

[attr="class","ooc"] GABRIEL BLACK

he appreciated candor like this. politics, and half-truths were a common enough thing in his line of work that, he'd navigated them rather easily. but, honesty was refreshing in a way that political subterfuge just wasn't.

[break][break]
he remains in silence, even as jayden cross retrieves the vial. he was no scientist, and far from the realm of a medical professional, but he narrows his eyes at the vial anyways.
[break][break]
his own scar was part of him; an intrinsic part of his identify that, even if given the chance, he would still keep it. but, he ran a wild-life preserve where burns were a common enough issue, so if he could mitigate that?
[break][break]
"show me."

[attr="class","notes"]jayden cross[break]

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

"hm."

[break][break] he pauses, considering the options that are available to him. showing one of his own wounds would matter little to GABRIEL BLACK , because jayden could certainly lie about the effects that he felt. to ask gabe to reveal his own seemed a tad bit too intimate for a man who was essentially his father's business partner.

[break][break] jayden hands over the small vial of cream to the other, to do with it what he likes, before disappearing for a moment. when he re-appears, he has an ipad in his hand.

[break][break] "you can see our input and output of sales here," he offers the other. on the screen, gabe would see several graphs and charts, different statistics that had been all displayed at the last monthly meeting.

[attr="class","ooc"] GABRIEL BLACK

gabriel takes the pad, searching the data. he's silent for a minute, and then two, eyes glancing through with an ease built by years of practice.

[break][break]
when he's finished, he returns it.

[break][break]
"i will need to see more before i make my final decision," he starts, a half-truth, "but this has promise. send me what data you can to have it thoroughly reviewed."

[break][break]
thoroughly. if jayden cross had any thoughts of falsifying data, gabriel hopes his words would steer him well clear of that mistake.

[attr="class","notes"]jayden cross[break]

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

relief blooms in his chest. GABRIEL BLACK was by no means an easy man to work with, but he was a powerful figure — whether it be rocket, league, council or whatever organization he fitted himself with. it was why his father had chosen to work with him at all.

[break][break] after all, dmitri was not a man who accepted inferiority.

[break][break] "of course, sir."

[break][break] his voice betrays nothing else, as it should. when the ipad is handed back to him, he returns it back to the table where he retrieved it from, as well as returning the burn cream back to the freezer in which it had been contained.

[break][break] "now that is over with. how are you feeling? would you like to grab a bite to eat?"

[break][break] it would be impolite to depart without at least offering, after all.

[attr="class","ooc"] GABRIEL BLACK

gabriel contemplates his offer, than simply nods.
[break][break]
"we'll have more to discuss."
[break][break]
S.A.M. makes the annotation in his schedule, and the two depart for something to eat.

[attr="class","notes"]jayden cross[break]

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉