John is seated at one of the booths, leaning against the faux pine board plywood-lined wall, and reading whilst picking idly at his meal. There's quite a few empty buckets, and partially full containers of white rice. Who's a hungry lad? Then again.... look at the size of him.

It's a quiet Tuesday night anyway, with Yi working overtime since her period of absences has really had the manager, Mr. Chen, somewhat ticked. Still, he only rips her off since she's working for him illegally, and thus has not a care except the amount of cash in his register. A squat man no taller than 168 cm or so, Mr. Chen is hunched over a calculator as he adds up the day's count. Sara, one of the waitresses, hovers around from table to table. Yi's in the back, behind a set of swinging double doors, tossing rice over a hot wok. Just a few more minutes...

Somewhere outside there's the whir and clatter of wheels against cement, a regular cadence marked by the cracks in the sidewalk. Clunk-clunkita-clunk, the wheels go, louder and louder until, with the scrape of rubber against cement, it all stops. There's a shape visible past the door, a girl with sandy, curly hair-- She's grinning when she draws the door open enough to slip inside, her board tucked surreptitiously under her voluminous coat. She's got a smudge on one freckled cheek, dirt or something.

John looks up from his food, cautiously, to spot the new customer. Crisp and clean, his clothes neatly pressed and perfectly tailored... he's the perfect contrast to her. The Walker recognizes the Gnawer cub, and gives her a brief nod, before going back to his book, and picking at his food.

"{Yi! The man at table 4 says he doesn't want his fried rice too salty!}" "{Right!}" From the brief swinging of the double doors, the newmoon's form could be seen tossing up the contents of a wok before the doors shut. Sara strides over towards the cub, dipping her head in a traditional manner. "Hello, welcome," comes the pleasant though heavily accented English from the waitress. A quick scan for any others in the party and the girl motions towards the aisleway. "One?" Mr. Chen is, of course, preoccupied with his money.

[Announcement: Nemo announces "The local top radio station interrupts its nightly broadcast to announce the following: "Hey listeners, a hundred bucks too rich for you? Still want to see those Bigfoot bones on Thursday night? Well my station manager has just told me we have TEN TICKETS well be giving out durin the next two days, so if you are my TENTH CALLER RIGHT NOW and can answer one Bigfoot trivia question, you and a friend are gonna hobnob with the rich and famous and sneak a peek at the famous Sasquatch! Call NOW!" (OOC note: page lb to call)"]

John's eyes flick over to Mr. Chen, and then back to the cub. Considering. Then he shrugs, and his eyes return to his book. "Feel free to join me, if you want, Anneka." He leaves the invitation open, and continues to just nibble at some plain rice with traces of sauce left over from the meaty morsels that were evidently once there.

Not hearing the radio announcement though it flies over the restaurant's meager speakers, Yi finally comes out of the kitchen with a somewhat grease stained apron on and a plate of hot fried rice. This she hands over to Hong-Hua, another of the employees at the Tin-Yen who sends it over towards the man at Table 4. Just when Yi is about to walk back in though she spots John and Anneka. A quick scan around shows Mr. Chen moving to the back of the restaurant to tend to something, so Yi slides over towards them and nods to Sara, the other girl moving off to bus the tables. "Hey," she greets with a short wipe on her apron. "You like it?" She tilts her chin at the various containers and John's mostly empty dining table, and grins slightly.

John looks up at Yi, and one corner of his mouth quirks upwards. "There's something to be said for a woman who can cook, always. It's good, Yi." The smile fades, quickly. "When do you get off work? We have business to attend to."

Yi arches a brow at the compliment with a smirk, then glances over towards the cash register. "In ten minutes." She turns back to John. "Business, as usual." She wipes her hands off and bobs her head. "In the meantime..." Yi picks up some of the empty plates and stacks them up to take back into the kitchens. "At least you're not a messy eater." She laughs softly and strides back towards the back through the double doors.

[And for now.. due to technical OOC difficulties, assume that the Annlet came, Annlet ate, and Annlet left]

John shrugs a little, wrinkling his nose and snorting at her comment. He leans back a little, considering the left over rice, and then pushes it away. Done. He just sits back, content to read for the remaining ten minutes. Until his appetite returns, maybe.

Ten minutes fly by, and it's not long before the restaurant is closing up. Mr. Chen returns to the front to replace Sara, and eyes John a little bit. Seems like the Walker is the only one in the restaurant left except for the one man at Table 4. Snippets of conversation can be heard from the kitchens as Sara goes to help clean up in the back, and after a little while Sara and Hong-Hua come out to finish bussing tables. A few more minutes pass, and dishes get washed, woks put away, utensils cleaned, tabletops wiped. The man at Table 4 finishes and pays.. eventually Yi comes out off duty sans apron, and nods to John. "{All ready,}" she says with a soldier-like tone. Her eyes though, stray to whatever John is reading.

John rises, flipping the book shut, and slipping it into the oversized outer coat-pocket. Yi can get a glimpse of the title - something in Italian, though. He peers at Yi, and tilts his head. "Know of somewhere quiet? A few things to tell you." he grunts.

Yi nods curtly, hiding her gut feelings of trouble as she steps a pace away so John can rise. She bids the others a good night before heading out of the restaurant silently, trusting John to follow. Once outside, she turns and glances around. "{We could go to the Park. Or if you want a place private, my apartment or this abandoned warehouse at the docks.}" She tightens her lips, glancing at him.

John hitches his shoulder dismissively as he steps out after her. "{Your apartment is probably best. A few things to discuss. Plans. And a few documents for you, too. Lead the way.}"

Yi gives the Walker a short nod again before heading southeast towards Bridge street.

Apt. 15(#2604RJh)
The slummiest wing of the Shitty Ass Ghetto Villas holds a party. Apt. 15 is like stumbling into an electric blue Mardi Gras lunchbox complete with 30-piece mariachi band. Within the common room sprawls a half-circular wagon-blockade formation of hardy boxes, lumpy beanbags, and a slouchy sofa holding the fort against the tinfoil-antenna alien of a color TV. Like a curious insect, the TV sits up against the wall atop an old metal keg with wires of a Sega Dreamcast tumbling off in thin pseudopods down to the console. The video games for the possibly only valuable item in this apartment surround the keg, backed up by platoons of toy cars just waiting to slide under an unsuspecting foot.
Stuff abounds here in the hideyhole of the giant wolfrats of GAIA. Christmas lights provide blinking dashes of rainbow color along the walls, lighting up old horror movie posters and their ilk. Underfoot, the fuzzy brown carpet sports a scar of yardlong clawmarks in a corner, along with a stamped-on smileyface rug lying in the very center of the room. A mullet wigged radio set atop a cardboard box in one corner plays in a battle of media with the opposing TV. (+view for rooms)
Obvious exits:
Out

Throwing three locks of different kinds, Yi ushers the Walker inside. Appearances can indeed be deceiving. "Watch out for the cars, down underfoot," she points out just in case the christmas lights don't light up things enough. "Ah, go ahead and sit down wherever you like. Want something to drink? Water? Coke? Beer?"

John shakes his head minutely, studying the toys and other objects underfoot. His nose wrinkles a little - not entirely approving of the surroundings. "Water, thanks." he says, quietly, and begins to rummage in his jacket - at the same time looking for a flat surface.

The recent addition to the apartment is a small white porch table surface without legs. It's supported with a couple stacks of phonebooks on either side, a foot of so from the sofa. Yi slips past the noren, with some clinking of mugs and running of water, she returns with a couple of mugs. "Sorry about the mess. If I knew visitors were coming," she smiles faintly. Obviously, she doesn't exactly look like she belongs in this place either, with the flashy lights and movie posters. But, it's been home for awhile now. She takes up a spot on a floor cushion and looks at the Walker expectantly.

John flips out a thick, manilla envelope, and hands it over to Yi. Then he seats himself nearby, crossing his legs in a nearly meditational pose - looking so out of place in these settings that he almost fits in. "Sunday night, I broke into Tonie D. Underground's warehouse office." he says, flatly, eye on the documents.

Yi takes the envelope gently, setting the mugs down on the tabletop that is surprisingly sturdy despite its iffy appearance. She unclasps the clip and draws out the documents, looking them over. For a little bit, she's stuck on just reading the documents. "What do they say?" she finally asks, still trying to put the words together into sentences that make sense. She has however been getting pretty good at reading basic materials.

John frowns a little. Her ability to read English hadn't crossed his mind. Though some of the materials at the rear contain chinese characters. "Shipping manifests. Schedules. Those might change. I'm not the best spy. They're very much aware of my breaking in. But some of those ships have already left. One of them may have your friend Lai on board." The Walker reaches over, to point to a letter. "I think this one's code. I think he's coming to pay a visit - some time this week, or two weeks from now." He sounds grim. "And he knows we killed 'Stevie', or whoever that miserable bastard was."

You paged the room with 'The letter is coded, or something? In chinese?'.

John pages: No. Just doubletalk.

You paged John with 'What's the mean?'.

John pages: You know. Not saying exactly what you mean - but enough that the other person will know exactly what you mean.

John pages: With some words meaning others, too.

Perusing the documents, Yi nods slowly at the Walker's information. "A visit...this week or so." Her eyes gaze down at some actual Chinese writings, giving them some thought as she goes over them. "I think he may have already noticed the DJ's scar you gave him." She continues reading. "It doesn't seem like he knows where I live, at least." She glances up around at the room, checking things with her eyes first to make sure things aren't out of place. Her attention returns to the documents again. "How did you break in? They must not have very tight security."

You paged John with 'Anything Yi might notice?'.

Long distance to John: Yi knows there are so many words in chinese with double meanings.. gah.

You paged John with 'Or if you pronounce them differently, they mean differently... oy.'.

John pages: Yeah. :) Uhm... Hang on, thinking.

John clears his throat, and looks vaguely uncomfortable, focussing on the documents in her hands. "Tried to sneak in under the cover of the rave. But they had a half-dozen guards for the office." He shrugs dismissively. "I'm not a No Moon." he mutters. "I got this information, and they were smart enough not to try any guns. So no-one died." His eyes flick up to Yi, guiltily for a moment, then back to the papers. "That I know of." he adds.

Yi chews on the inside of her lip as she continues to read though her gaze flickers from the papers to John a few times. "6 guards, hm," Yi nods slowly. Then her brow furrows some. She inclines her head and looks closer, blinking as if she didn't believe what she was reading. "These... are code names. But the logos here... they're Walkers most of them." She glances up at John. "You ever heard of Dragon's Fangs, or White Eagles?" She points down to the paper. "Here's their logo. Lai is one of theirs, low in the ranks." She skims some of the others. "One here, {Black Fox}." Her forehead creases, as if she's trying to remember anyone by that name.

John frowns a little. "I didn't..." Sudden recognition. "Let me see." he grunts. "The Walkers..." He pauses, reaching over for the papers. "Hmm. Not sure how much to tell you." he mutters. "Walker secrets."

Yi hands the papers over, a little reluctantly. "Secrets, right," she echoes quietly with a hint of 'Suuuuuure'. "You know anyone named Black Fox?" She scruffs the back of her head a little, glancing over another set of papers that turn out to be shipping schedules. "Lai wouldn't go by boat," she says after a little bit. "No Walker would go by boat unless they were out of money. Or, unless they didn't want to be caught when they got back." Dark eyes flicker up at John.

John mutters acidly, "I'm aware of that." peering at the documents with the code. "Didn't look at these closely. Forgotten everything, it seems." There's a self-deprecating tone to his grumbling. After flipping through and scanning through squinting eyes, he hands the papers back in disgust. "I don't know." he grumbles. "Best I can figure is that Lai's activities and this Black Fox aren't known to the others. Except, if a Hong Kong Walker were to see this, they'd know what was going on. So..." He frowns, in frustration. "I don't see it. Unless that's a Gnawer working with a Walker against their elders' wishes..." He shakes his head, dismissing the idea. "They'd catch that. He wouldn't have gotten so far."

Yi shoots a look up at John. "A Gnawer, working with a Walker against their...elders?" Her eyes carry a darkness in the Xmas lighting as she gazes at John though she is unfocused at the Walker, more seeing beyond him. Then with a shake of her head she turns back to the documents in front of her. "Gnawers are more resourceful than you give us credit for," Yi murmurs while flipping a page. "If Black Fox is a Gnawer... or even a kin of a Gnawer... it's quite possible." She takes a deep breath. "Assuming, it were such... Gnawers have many contacts. Resources. Favors owed, and mouths shut with no questions asked. A Walker would be monitored closely." She exhales slowly. "How does this have to do with me, though?" Her hands clasp in front of her. "Why go through all this trouble, of hiring thugs to track me? And maybe even try to kill me?" Her eyes go up to the sofa cushions and stare hard. "It just...doesn't make sense."

John lowers his head, staring at her from underneath thick, black eyebrows. Cold, ice-blue eyes. "You might want to start thinking about why you're here. What were politics like when you left? Why did you leave?"

Yi blinks a few times. "Things were... pretty normal. Dragon's Fangs weren't looking to kill me anymore, since they thought I was dead. Or at least, it seemed like they didn't care either way. The Dragon's Fangs are now the White Eagles..." she trails there, as that short statement puts some logic in here. "Maybe that's .. maybe someone from the White Eagles remembers and wants me dead. Someone who knows I'm still alive and how I've gotten here." She creases her brow. "I was sent here by my elder, my mentor, Grandmother Rui. Rank 4 halfmoon... and smarter than the whole lot of us. She told me to go to America, to find a kinfolk, told me to say 'hi' to him." She glances over at John. "A kinfolk named Xia Doh."

John's face twitches slightly. Grimly, he murmurs, "Give me your telephone number, and I'll have him call you."

Yi tilts her head at John. "You know where he lives?" She looks fully at the Walker. "How do you know him?" Yeah right, she'll give him her number.

John shakes his head a little. "No. We're..." he stops, and starts again. Choosing his words /carefully/. "I've known of Xia for a long time. And he knew me from... /before/ the destruction at Grey Sky. Different person. And, well... he's here now." He frowns. "Number?" he asks, one eyebrow rising.

Yi gives John a skeptic's look, but being polite enough she doesn't pry too much. Maybe she can get more out of the kin. With a shrug, she rattles off a telephone number, waving over at the telephone somewhere beside the TV. "Have an answering machine too, courtesy of Nevada." She would joke, but it doesn't seem like she's in much of a mood to. "So you know Xia Doh." She wets her lips and then takes a sip of the untouched water in her mug. "What is Xia doing in St. Claire? Another from Seattle?"

John nods, quietly, running the number over in his head a few times, then pulling out a little black book and a pen - to jot it down. "Xia's here from work. He... wasn't around when Grey Sky fell. His mother was, though." He pauses, staring at the book - finished writing, but not lifting the pen. "She died early." He wrinkles his nose, and shakes his head dismissively. "One of the lucky ones." he grunts, slipping the book into his jacket.

Yi considers the information about Xia given to her. At the hearing of his mother, she bows her head. "Another lost." She sighs quietly. Then, she leans back a bit. Her arm stretches out to reach around to a side of the sofa, where there's a small hole. From there she produces a tiny red bound book and a pen. The utensil flies over a small page and she rips it out, offering it to John. On it are a couple of addresses and a phone number. "My address, back in Hong Kong. If you have to send me anything, send it to the first address. The second is my sept's general address around this time of the year. The number below... call if it is extremely urgent."

John takes the offered papers, and pulls out his little black book again. He transfers the details over carefully, and hands back the piece of paper. "I don't keep pieces of paper." he notes, absently. Sitting back, and thinking, he adds, "Think I'll talk to Xia. Might tell you what I was doing in Hong Kong with Hides-in-Innocence, sometime. If it's safe."

Yi crumples up the paper into a short ball and shoves it in her mouth to chew and swallow. She coughs a few times but otherwise looks unfazed. Then she slips the book and pen back where it came from, and then looks down at the papers in front of her. "You know, these documents... looks like they have a couple of shipments going out in the next few days." She looks over at John, eyebrow arching inquisitively at him. Would he feel like meddling?

John raises an eyebrow. "Your point?" he asks, quietly. "I was going to leave them alone, until we perhaps... get you out of the country."

Yi taps at the papers, musingly. "Speaking of which... I will owe you for these papers, as well as the other papers." She looks over at John, brow raising. "I have much to thank you for, but nothing truly to offer except myself and my abilities." She tilts her head at him. "When I return... if you feel the need to call upon a Gnawer..." she trails there, trusting him to fill in the rest.

John raises a finger. "Point one." he says, carefully, staring into her eyes. "If I die... the debt won't die with me. You'll owe Rina." He shrugs. "Unless I find myself in trouble that requires your effort." Leaning back and eyeing her critically, he notes, "That's all I really want from you, Yi. Keep her safe, if I die. She won't let me cage her, but she'll have a shadow."

Yi lifts a hand and dips her head at John in acknowledgement. "You cannot cage love," Yi answers succinctly. "And the shadow will try to avoid being brought out into the light," she smiles. "If -I- die though..." she wets her lips. "Then my next body will carry on that debt in spirit."

John inclines his head, with a slightly softer expression on his face. "Very well, then. At any rate... I'm curious. What plans did you have for the next few days' shipments?"

Yi blinks out of the more philosophical mode, her eyes going from Walker to papers. "To find out where all these shipments are going to. Whose hands they are falling into. And what they are doing with them." She scans the schedule. "Arms and drugs are always big...but this isn't like normal. Maybe they've found St. Claire to be a new port they could secretly traffic their goods. Seattle could be raining acid, you know?" She runs a finger down the list. "And... Tonie said something that... Lai was speaking about.. 'His Yi'. I'm curious." She inclines an eye up at the Walker.

John frowns, lightly, and shakes his head a little. "Most of the drugs are simple, poor-quality stuff. Half of it gets sold at the raves, I'll bet." He frowns a little. "I'm a little concerned about people smuggling. By rights... St. Claire should be /filled/ with Chinese. I hardly see any. We have more mexicans than we have Chinese." he mutters.

Yi rubs her finger and thumb together. "This place could just be a temporary stop. They could be moving them to San Francisco. Or Seattle. Or Los Angeles." She shrugs lightly. "Most of the people come with no money, like me. The unfortunate side is that they aren't all Gnawers." She draws up a knee to her chest. "Destiny has such a sense of humor." Her finger flips a page. "My whole life I was trying to -avoid- being involved in the triads. I guess it just doesn't happen."

John raises his eyebrows briefly in a blaise gesture. "Destiny's sense of humour is very, /very/ black." he notes, sourly. "It's where you come from. You'll do.. fine."

Yi shrugs and sits back upright to order the pages again. "I suppose you want these, or should I keep them?" She sniffs softly. "I'll go see about these shipments a couple days or so from now." She piles the papers. "And then I'll find out what Lai wants with me." She straightens the pile, determined in action and voice.

John watches her carefully for a few moments, then shrugs. "I have copies, naturally. If you want a gun backing you up, it's free of charge. I'm curious. And you might need a hand." he murmurs, lowly.

Yi looks over at John. "If you'd like. But, you're not going to be doing the scouting," she chuckles at the Walker. "Probably just snatch a guard and switch clothes or something. At night." Her mind turns plans over as she skims the top document. "Tomorrow, or the next day. Sound good?" She gazes back up over at him.

John nods, curtly. "Let me know in advance." he grunts.

Yi stands up at that, a smooth motion off the cushion beneath her. "I will," she replies with a softer, grateful light in eye. "Thank you, John."

John rises gracefully, and quickly, dusting himself off, unconsciously. No offense... He turns for the door, after sparing a measuring look for Yi. Then steps towards the exit. "Don't mention it."

Yi gets the door for the Walker, and checks outside of it briefly from habit before motioning him through. "Good night."

John inclines his head, respectfully, then steps out into the night without a word.