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xp_logsNo-one enjoys watching a breakup.
A pair of young twentysomethings came through the stylized 'rabbit hole' entrance of the Wonderland casino, their attention drawn to the costumed guards and staff, the bright and loud machines, and the video screens on every wall. They were both in casual shirts and jeans, looking like any of the thousands of other young tourists that came through the same set of doors. The blond young man was pretty much a non-entity, and the woman was noticeable, but only in the way that a leggy redhead draws appreciative glances.
Earlier...
Doug Ramsey sat in a chair in the common area of the suite Emma had booked for them, a yellow legal pad and a few pencils in front of him on the table. He had made a rough sketch of the main pit floor of the Wonderland, with Xs that he pointed to. "Cameras are here, here, here, and here. At that time of day, security will be manning these stations. The first thing we need to do is find the roamers, the ones walking the floor. Which also includes several plainclothes guards at the various tables and slots."
"Which means we will need to get their attention." Marie-Ange said. "Draw the eyes of the plainsclothes guards, while we pull the uniformed security's attention away from their posts." She rolled a pen over her knuckles, and then used it to tap the sketch Doug had done. "We just walk in via the main entrance, yes? It has the most cameras, but I think also the most crowds. Harder to pinpoint a couple if they are coming in with others."
"Right. Coming in a side entrance actually draws -more- attention than coming in the front, even allowing for camera coverage. If we come in the side, the guards are going to start wondering -why- we came in that way. But a couple of young tourists gawking at the entrance is anonymous, because that's what everyone else does." Doug leaned back in his chair, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "What do you think - graduate students?"
~~~
The red-haired woman took off a pair of oversized sunglasses, and slipped them into her purse, and took out a phone in the same motion. She smiled at her companion, and took his picture, ignoring his small frown, and then tapped out a message onto the keypad of the phone before dropping it back into her purse. "We should get dinner reservations, they have a fondue bar, and unbirthday celebrations! It would be so fun!"
The blond grimaced a bit more. "Should I make the reservation for three? You, me, and your phone?" He held up his hands to make the classic 'photobox' rectangle with his thumbs and forefingers. "Here's Joe outside the restaurant! Here's Joe walking up to the host stand! Here's every. Single. Bite. Of our food!"
"I like to take pictures, what is wrong with that?" The woman gestured at her purse. "How will we have anything to put in scrapbooks if I cannot take pictures? You throw -everything- away! You won't buy postcards, or save anything!" She opened the bag, and pulled out a sheaf of colored pamphlets. "I had to take all these out of the room, because otherwise you would have thrown them out!"
A pair of guards were edging toward the couple as their voices started to raise in volume and pitch. They stayed a discreet distance away, and one nudged the other in the ribs. "That's five for me. Told you they wouldn't be staying here," he murmured. "Double or nothing on where they're staying?"
"You're on."
"The trick is to draw attention, but not -too- much attention," Doug told Marie-Ange as they both sipped at soft drinks. "We'll be far from the first argument that happens in the casino, but we don't want them to actually step in. Just be drawn out of position. We want to be noticeable, but not memorable."
"Yes, so nothing physical, and nothing that might cause them to stare at us for overlong." Marie-Ange agreed. "What do we -not- want to have a fake fight about? I would prefer no fights about money, and I think in a casino, that might draw attention, yes?"
"Definitely." Doug's eyes flicked toward the ceiling before he continued. "Can we...avoid any subjects that will result in my therapist getting -more- emergency on-call fee than he already gets?" he asked in a deceptively neutral tone.
The raised eyebrow Marie-Ange returned was equal parts "I cannot believe you would think I would suggest those" and "Do not be silly, of course we can avoid them." She poked Doug with one sock-covered foot.
~
"Because they're -tacky-!" 'Joe' gestured at the bright eye-catching neon of the pamphlets. "At least pictures have more of a purpose, even if you take eighty billion of them. But why do you need to keep every last piece of paper ever? You think I throw too much out, you never throw -anything- out!" He threw up his hands in disgust.
"Fine!" The woman crumpled the pamphlets and began tossing them at her partner, missing spectacularly. "If you want to throw them all out you can just throw them out yourself!" She dug into her bag and pulled out receipts and a few postcards, and a handful of post-it notes and threw them too. "Here, you can just throw out everything!"
At this point it was becoming embarrassingly clear to everyone in earshot (and the number was growing as the pair's voices got louder) that they were bearing witness to the dying throes of a relationship. Shoulders hunched and eyes turned down and away from them, but just like a car skidding over ice toward a wreck, there was a sort of inevitability to things that kept drawing eyes and ears back to them.
The man scurried around, not quite on hands and knees as he tried to gather up each of the scraps of paper being thrown at him. As he did so, he babbled in an attempt to soothe the now incandescently angry redhead, the word 'please' featuring prominently.
As he gathered up the pamphlets and other items (all selected to carefully leave no identifying information about them), Doug watched the guards move a bit closer, hesitance on their faces. ~Just a bit closer,~ he thought as he mentally counted off seconds. And just on time, as the guards were only a couple of yards away and about to raise their hands to interject, bells and lights began going off. But not the excitement of a high profile win. The population of the Wonderland's main floor all looked up as the reality of fire alarms began to dawn on them, at which point a press of humanity surged toward the exits, trapping the out-of-position guards in their midst.
~Jackpot.~
A pair of young twentysomethings came through the stylized 'rabbit hole' entrance of the Wonderland casino, their attention drawn to the costumed guards and staff, the bright and loud machines, and the video screens on every wall. They were both in casual shirts and jeans, looking like any of the thousands of other young tourists that came through the same set of doors. The blond young man was pretty much a non-entity, and the woman was noticeable, but only in the way that a leggy redhead draws appreciative glances.
Earlier...
Doug Ramsey sat in a chair in the common area of the suite Emma had booked for them, a yellow legal pad and a few pencils in front of him on the table. He had made a rough sketch of the main pit floor of the Wonderland, with Xs that he pointed to. "Cameras are here, here, here, and here. At that time of day, security will be manning these stations. The first thing we need to do is find the roamers, the ones walking the floor. Which also includes several plainclothes guards at the various tables and slots."
"Which means we will need to get their attention." Marie-Ange said. "Draw the eyes of the plainsclothes guards, while we pull the uniformed security's attention away from their posts." She rolled a pen over her knuckles, and then used it to tap the sketch Doug had done. "We just walk in via the main entrance, yes? It has the most cameras, but I think also the most crowds. Harder to pinpoint a couple if they are coming in with others."
"Right. Coming in a side entrance actually draws -more- attention than coming in the front, even allowing for camera coverage. If we come in the side, the guards are going to start wondering -why- we came in that way. But a couple of young tourists gawking at the entrance is anonymous, because that's what everyone else does." Doug leaned back in his chair, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "What do you think - graduate students?"
~~~
The red-haired woman took off a pair of oversized sunglasses, and slipped them into her purse, and took out a phone in the same motion. She smiled at her companion, and took his picture, ignoring his small frown, and then tapped out a message onto the keypad of the phone before dropping it back into her purse. "We should get dinner reservations, they have a fondue bar, and unbirthday celebrations! It would be so fun!"
The blond grimaced a bit more. "Should I make the reservation for three? You, me, and your phone?" He held up his hands to make the classic 'photobox' rectangle with his thumbs and forefingers. "Here's Joe outside the restaurant! Here's Joe walking up to the host stand! Here's every. Single. Bite. Of our food!"
"I like to take pictures, what is wrong with that?" The woman gestured at her purse. "How will we have anything to put in scrapbooks if I cannot take pictures? You throw -everything- away! You won't buy postcards, or save anything!" She opened the bag, and pulled out a sheaf of colored pamphlets. "I had to take all these out of the room, because otherwise you would have thrown them out!"
A pair of guards were edging toward the couple as their voices started to raise in volume and pitch. They stayed a discreet distance away, and one nudged the other in the ribs. "That's five for me. Told you they wouldn't be staying here," he murmured. "Double or nothing on where they're staying?"
"You're on."
"The trick is to draw attention, but not -too- much attention," Doug told Marie-Ange as they both sipped at soft drinks. "We'll be far from the first argument that happens in the casino, but we don't want them to actually step in. Just be drawn out of position. We want to be noticeable, but not memorable."
"Yes, so nothing physical, and nothing that might cause them to stare at us for overlong." Marie-Ange agreed. "What do we -not- want to have a fake fight about? I would prefer no fights about money, and I think in a casino, that might draw attention, yes?"
"Definitely." Doug's eyes flicked toward the ceiling before he continued. "Can we...avoid any subjects that will result in my therapist getting -more- emergency on-call fee than he already gets?" he asked in a deceptively neutral tone.
The raised eyebrow Marie-Ange returned was equal parts "I cannot believe you would think I would suggest those" and "Do not be silly, of course we can avoid them." She poked Doug with one sock-covered foot.
~
"Because they're -tacky-!" 'Joe' gestured at the bright eye-catching neon of the pamphlets. "At least pictures have more of a purpose, even if you take eighty billion of them. But why do you need to keep every last piece of paper ever? You think I throw too much out, you never throw -anything- out!" He threw up his hands in disgust.
"Fine!" The woman crumpled the pamphlets and began tossing them at her partner, missing spectacularly. "If you want to throw them all out you can just throw them out yourself!" She dug into her bag and pulled out receipts and a few postcards, and a handful of post-it notes and threw them too. "Here, you can just throw out everything!"
At this point it was becoming embarrassingly clear to everyone in earshot (and the number was growing as the pair's voices got louder) that they were bearing witness to the dying throes of a relationship. Shoulders hunched and eyes turned down and away from them, but just like a car skidding over ice toward a wreck, there was a sort of inevitability to things that kept drawing eyes and ears back to them.
The man scurried around, not quite on hands and knees as he tried to gather up each of the scraps of paper being thrown at him. As he did so, he babbled in an attempt to soothe the now incandescently angry redhead, the word 'please' featuring prominently.
As he gathered up the pamphlets and other items (all selected to carefully leave no identifying information about them), Doug watched the guards move a bit closer, hesitance on their faces. ~Just a bit closer,~ he thought as he mentally counted off seconds. And just on time, as the guards were only a couple of yards away and about to raise their hands to interject, bells and lights began going off. But not the excitement of a high profile win. The population of the Wonderland's main floor all looked up as the reality of fire alarms began to dawn on them, at which point a press of humanity surged toward the exits, trapping the out-of-position guards in their midst.
~Jackpot.~
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