He left strict order not to be disturbed, and yet, that is what is happening.[break][break]



“Yes, what is it?” He doesn’t initially look up when he’s addressed–too engrossed in the expense reports that he’s reviewing. But after a beat, he pauses, frowning when it registers in his mind that the voice is not that of his assistant’s. It is familiar though, isn’t it? Just not in this context.[break][break]



Enzo sets his pen down with a sigh, shifting in his seat so that he can prop his elbows on his desk and steeple his fingers together. “Look, I’m not sure who granted you clearance, but I’m a bit up to my neck in paperwork here, so– oh.” When his glance finally drifts upward, he can’t help the way his eyebrows shoot up.[break][break]



Dark hair, violet eyes. Thin and sharp-angled, and severely lacking a bright green apron and visor. “Latte guy…yeah?” Enzo cocks a finger gun in his direction, clicking sound in the back of his teeth and all. “Well, this is a surprise. You’re jayden cross? I see it now– I would’ve never guessed.”[break][break]



Though maybe he should have put two and two together long before now. It is not as though he’s never seen photos of the late Volkov’s family before. Blending in, in mundane places, he supposes. He knows how to hide in plain sight–or he did, at one time when he wasn’t much more than nothing at all.[break][break]



The joking air he carries evaporates quickly, however, in favor of something more somber. “Yes, I was, though. My condolences–I would’ve attended the ceremony, but I was unfortunately tied up here.” The downside to building up The Nimbus up to what it has become is the fact that he’s become a bit obsessive. Distrusting of anyone else to maintain the civility if he were to take an absence longer than a few days.[break][break]



He doesn’t know how to commiserate with the loss the younger man suffers. He’s been on his own for as long as he can remember, an island of one. For the most part, anyway. He gestures at the seat in front of his desk in offering. “What can I do for you, then, jayden cross?”





[break][break]

jayden cross  | m: recruitment act i. | you got a mobile order for him, starbo boy??

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Enzo sighed forlornly. “Of course it warrants discussion, Kosei. There’s the manner of the job, and the details. I have a set for you to choose from, I guess.” His eyes shifted to Miu for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “Depending on the nature of the job.” Juggling the little girl in his arm, Enzo reached for the key nestled in his jacket to unlock the door he came to a stop at.[break][break]

He didn’t necessarily feel welcoming toward his old friend at the moment. But for better or worse, the brand of airy congeniality that Kosei so loved to cast a snide look at had become long committed to habit. “Coffee?” It was at least more of a grumble than a polite offer–a treatment reserved primarily for the other man. Because as much as Enzo detested the fact, Kosei Kiryu had always been particularly good at prying under his skin to allow the crawl of irritation.[break][break]

Once the door was opened for Kosei to step inside, he gestured not to the seat in front of his overly large mahogany desk, but rather the plush armchairs nestled to the side, a coffee table in between them. An intricate fireplace built of black marble with intricate in-laid carvings of old legends was set into the wall just to the left of the seating.[break][break]

From the corner, a large houndoom rose from the soft dog bed he’d been napping in. Lazily, he started to move in Enzo’s direction before noticing the company who had come along as well. A low sound rumbled in the back of his throat signaling his continued wariness of Kosei, but for Miu came the swish of Cassius’ thin, pointed tail. “Alright Miu, my gioia,” he swung her down and shook loose his arm once she had been settled on the floor, “go get ‘em.”



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Kosei Kiryu | xoxo

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Kosei had sorely underestimated the power of Enzo’s pride.[break][break]

Of course, it wasn’t only his ego on the line, given that this was a who could do better sort of situation, but Enzo was not about to be outdone by this idiot. No, he would prove once and for all that he could handle the general outdoors and survivalist type perspectives.[break][break]

Actually, it annoyed him to no end that Kosei thought him unable to spend a week with few resources. Just because he was squeamish about the outside, it wasn’t because he’d been raised in a cushy environment. He didn’t enjoy messiness because he’d more or less been raised with nothing. He’d had to claw and fight just to get above the surface of all that muck. He had goals, aspirations.[break][break]

Just because Kosei was made of tough stuff and had the weight of old familial expectation did not make him superior in this. No way. Enzo had scrubbed dirt and grime out from under his nails countless times. He would do so again. Granted, this was all city grime. Urban decay and rot, rather than the natural wilderness. But what was the point in splitting hairs about it? The point was he knew how to be resourceful when it all boiled down.[break][break]

He sat in the boat opposite of Kosei, arms folded and silently stewing.[break][break]

“Yes I’m sure!” he snapped back, obviously annoyed as his shoulders hunched higher. Then his smile twisted into something snide, only just noticeable in the dim of the growing evening gloom. “Unless you’re trying to get me to back out first because you don’t want to do this.”




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+ Kosei Kiryu | deserted island | 8 years ago!!

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The bar within The Nimbus was just as opulent as the rest of the establishment, though Enzo had to admit it was one of his more favored rooms. With dark wood and low, warm light that allowed the space to grow hazier as the light outside grew dimmer and smoke slowly filled the space. There was plush leather seating with squat side tables, intricately carved legs holding them up inlaid with woven patterns.[break][break]

But the bar in and of itself was a sight to behold–tall with low-back, velvet covered stools in dark green that complimented the green and gold of the lighting fixtures. The back wall was lined with the finest labels he could have imported and acquired. Though he delegated many purchases for the hotel to the head of staff (it was important to trust at least one other individual’s taste, after all,) and menu selections were left to the employed Chef de Cuisine, Enzo himself curated this aspect.[break][break]

If one were to scrutinize this choice, they’d conclude that it was one of the arenas Enzo was particularly snobbish about. But he would contest that it was a justifiable thing given that he opted to spend much of his downtime in this room. Which was his initial intent as he tucked away his paperwork and made the short trek from his study to the barroom. All up until he spied the familiar hunch of a figure with dark hair seated all on his lonesome. Almost as if in wait.[break][break]

He slid into a stool alongside Zev, silently so as he tipped his head with a short salute to the bartender on duty. He didn’t often deviate from the usual, and his staff knew as much, so it was only moments later before a neatly constructed old fashioned slid his way across the lacquered cherry bartop. In that time, he simply sat in silence, and then once the tumbler was in hand did he twist slightly in the assassin’s direction.[break][break]

“Long time,” he greeted shortly, a lopsided smile flitting over his mouth for a moment before he drank. Then it was straight to the point, with only mild pleasantry tacked on in slight afterthought. “I was beginning to think that you’d grown tired of finding jobs here. Not too busy in Slateport, I hope.”

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Zev Harcourt | m: sleepless in slateport

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The opportunity to let his bitterness show was too good to pass up. After all, Enzo was still a bit tetchy over the fact that Kosei had up and abandoned him to improve or whatever. Clearly that didn’t always pay out so well, because here he was. Turned up on Enzo’s stoop like a runaway dog returned.[break][break]

He didn’t miss the partial retort Kosei made before it was swallowed up by Miu’s outcry. But he did ignore it for a moment longer as he let out a robust laugh and scooped the little girl up. “How are you, topolina? Are you keeping your papà in line, hm?” Swinging her a bit in the air as he stood once more, and then settled her comfortably in his hold.[break][break]

Then his attention moved back to Kosei, gaze narrowing. “Mhm, sure you aren’t,” he said flatly. Enzo swiveled on his heels then, “Would you like to see Cassius, Miu? I do believe he’s missed you quite a lot.” It wasn’t wholly untrue–though the houndoom likely wasn’t lamenting her absence, he was quite gentle with her.[break][break]

“Come on then, Kosei, keep up. I haven’t got all day to deal with you,” he called back over his shoulder, behaving as though Kosei was the one dillydallying. “This is better discussed in my study.” Enzo made no effort to slow his pace as he moved away, down one of the tall-ceilinged halls to the left.

[break][break]
Kosei Kiryu | xoxo

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illeana reyes is not the only one doing their share of people watching that evening.[break][break]

Of course, the individuals who work and frequent his establishment on a regular basis know who he is and have simply accepted Enzo as a part of the backdrop. It is not uncommon to see him floating through the busier communal rooms, often with his houndoom dogging his heels.[break][break]

Today, however, he is on his own, and he makes a habit of learning the faces who come around. Learns their preferences, and figures out how he might best appeal to them. She, however, is new. Enzo can sense as much from yards away.[break][break]

It is written into her posture, and how she waits–drink in hand only minimally touched. So yes, Enzo has observed her just as much as she has noticed him, and when she is unable to look away quickly enough (the moment he’s been attempting to grab,) he smiles. And perhaps it’s a bit snakelike, but somehow he always manages to pass it off as something congenial.[break][break]

He carries his own drink in hand (which, for himself is often just as much a prop when he is working,) and he lifts it to tilt in her direction as silent acknowledgement before approaching. “I noticed you seem to be looking for someone, is there something that isn’t to your standards?”

[break][break]
illeana reyes   | >:3

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Every day at The Nimbus was much the same–attend to the patrons, maintain order, keep everything running like the well-oiled machine that it was. As much as Enzo had craved this life built from no more than scraps, it could get a bit boring. Which was why fate must’ve decided he was in sore need of a deviation.[break][break]

His attention drifted away from the dossier in his hands as the large main doors pushed open. A carefully tailored smile of pleasantry had already slipped up across his face, ready to play the accommodating manager as he always did. But as lilac eyes took in who was walking through his hotel’s doors, they widened just a touch. His eyebrows climbed high, and maybe he felt a touch of something smug being to coil in his chest.[break][break]

“Well, well,” he muttered, all purring smoothness as he handed the paperwork back to his desk clerk. “Do what you have to appease them. Extra room service if need be. Their overall stay extending longer is what’s more essential here. Rearrange my other appointments for the afternoon. I do believe I’ll be quite busy.”[break][break]

That said, he moved away as she agreed and set to it. Long strides as he crossed the grand foyer, and though his smile was toothy and wide, it shouldn’t have been mistaken for warm. Of course, Kosei would know as much, annoying as that was. “What’s this? Someone’s come crawling back? Seems the mighty have fallen, but I had no idea– it didn’t even make a single headline.”[break][break]

Petty remarks cast, Enzo’s attention swiftly dropped lower to the little girl at Kosei’s side. His entire demeanor seemed to morph and shift in the time it took for him to stoop down to her level and open his arms in offering. Now he was warm and kind, given that somehow Kosei’s kid had become a veritable soft spot for the man. “Miu, my topolina! Have you gotten taller? I think that you must’ve–you’re nearly as big as my krokorok now.” Light and friendly as he spoke.[break][break]

Kosei, who?

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Kosei Kiryu | xoxo

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