Nighthawks

[Naga]

"This from the guy who tried to play the whole school board to get his point across," she smirked, cradling her cup in her hands to savor the last remnants of her coffee.

"I think life is very often a chess game. Humans are a competitive species. We vie for food, shelter, money, mates, power, prestige. Politics, the courtroom, sports, even hand-to-hand combat. It's all move and counter move and trying to outwit and outlast your opponent to gain victory." A Warlock viewpoint if ever there was one. Adversity brings strength. Eat or be eaten. But not without purpose. "We even battle against nature and death. Struggle is part of the human condition."

[Winter]

"Chess is a perfect information sequential game. Real life isn't. So, Miss Lawyer. What exactly do you think I've done?", he was terribly curious to see whether the Ladder had gotten through that superficial layer of subterfuge. Not every Mastigos was good at mind games, he certainly had evidence of that.

Mental shield [pot 1]

[Naga]

Naga took a sip of her coffee before speaking, as if taking the moment to gather her thoughts. "Mind you, I'm new here. There's assuredly a lot of things of which I'm unaware. Histories, interactions, motivations, and so forth. So I can only provide you with a guess, and a largely uneducated one, at that."

With the preamble out of the way, she stated matter-of-factly, "You were setting a precedent. One you felt needed to be made. I don't know why, but you must have felt the need was dire if you went to these lengths. Breaking a formal promise is not to be taken lightly. Was there no precedent for it before now, or was it not enough in your eyes?" She seemed genuinely curious.

"In either case, the school board gave you what you seemed to want," particularly Pixel, "and the repercussions will be felt for some time to come." She took another sip. "Questions are, is that your end game, or just a step towards something else? Was the broken promise intentional, or were you just making use of it?" The Warlock shrugged slightly, "As I said, too many unknowns for me to guess more than this. Hell, I don't even know what the other two did." Meaning Shodan and Kaze, most likely.

[Winter]

"Oh, that was a reason. Yes", he says. His head tilts to the side, as to get a better angle of the Pantene-brunette. "But I'm a liar, you should never take my words at face value. I had forgotten that for while. As it happens, tell a convincing enough lie, and you start believing in it yourself. I also hate lying and I'm quite terrible at it", his hand reaches for the salt shaker.
"Paradox of self-reference, really", he plays with it.

Mental shield [pot 1]

[Naga]

She smiled in bemusement. "Yes, I do remember, Mr. Oil Rig." An Obrimos being this much of an dedicated liar was odd. Weren't they supposed to be honest and noble to the point of annoying everyone else? She'd known some really self-righteous assholes in L.A..

On second thought, given his inclinations towards martyrdom, maybe he wasn't so different.

"So when does your sabbatical start?"

[Winter]

"Couple of weeks, more or less. I'm packing lightly as I don't expect to do much sight seeing", he shrugs, "Time for some good old self reflection, you know...", the shaker is placed right in the middle. And his hand hovers dangerously close to where the 20$ bill would have been.
"What about you, did you pick a suitable accomodation already?".

Mental shield [pot 1]

[Naga]

Self-reference. Self-reflection. She was sensing a theme here.

"Mmm, maybe lift weights, find God, turn over a whole new leaf?" She'd seen it happen, not that it truly applied here. "Oh, yes. A lovely little place. 10 bedrooms, Olympic-sized pool and tennis courts. Separate servants quarters, naturally." Her large eyes flickered towards the spot where her tip and been laying, then back to gaze steadily at Winter. No comment, just a stare. Was she waiting to see what he did with it?

[Winter]

He looks at her; he's got a huge Scarlet Letter stamped on his forehead, and you can tell he's bemused by her reaction. For a "Civil rights lawyer" she surely was distrustful of felons. As she should be. "My reputation comes from lying and cheating, not from stealing", he says with a lopsided grin.

Mental shield [pot 1]

[Naga]

A lovely eyebrow arched, "Oh, sorry, I thought you were going to teach some sort of lesson with it. Maybe fold origami? Should I have expected less?" She reflected the lopsided grin right back at the Guardian. She was still a Warlock after all, trust didn't come easily.

[Winter]

He shakes his head. A far as humor is concerned, you can't beat a Warlock. "Now you're just bragging", he says, catching the bill between his index and thumb. "Money is just money. The more you have, the less it is worth", he says as he begins folding the paper into a mockery of a flower. Really, he can't tell how many of Tay's school assignments his lack of artistic skills helped botch.
Then, out of the blue. "A lot of rude people on the board of our school this year, I reckon. I used to be the groundskeeper. Y'know. So I've seen a lot of faces come and go"

Mental shield [pot 1]