------------------- thunderbirds are go

The time was just past four in the afternoon on a Tuesday, and an important session of a long running meeting (not unlike a court case in format) at PDL had just ended, and a recess was in order. But as usual, people were entering and exiting the building lobby, as the offices and boardrooms of a major weapons and technology company, especially in an action-prone metropolis are never really idle. At least not for long. It was at one of these particularly busy human traffic times that a certain business official, dressed smartly in a black shirt, grey skirt, stockings, heels, and a thin string of choker-length pearls sitting at her neck, exited a meeting not unlike the one mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph (in fact, it was the meeting mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph), stepped through the large glass-paneled turnstile and out onto the street.

<Rio> ::"Thank god a little bit more of that is over with. To think I have to sit through another three hours of that first thing tomorrow." She glanced at the intricate clock tower at the opposite street corner, even though she knew what the time was already. "Yay, I get to go home and review my notes for today and prepare for tomorrow. The fun never ends!" Thankfully she was only sarcastic in her head, otherwise from the outside, she'd look like a crazy lady who talked to herself. As she began walking down the street, her hand reached inside her bag, absently, for her phone. Not her phone, a comm link. She quickly caught herself, wondering if she was actually hoping for a message...? Rio shook her head in her thoughts as her outer countenance remained the same as she always looked - stone cold. ... Haha. Okay I kid. Calm.:: ...

As it happened in a hustling and bustling metropolis, people may scurry like ants, but the truly observant would notice particular people doing peculiar things. Things worth noticing.

As it happened, approaching Rio was a young man in a uniform, a large package slung over his back giving a glancing person the impression he may be carrying a large instrument on his back, for the case was black and hard and about the size of a cello. Or rather - perhaps smaller...

One of the things that would have drawn Rio's notice about him - other than the uniform or the fact that he was crossing the nearby plaza to intercept her as she passed the plaza's entrance - was that he was looking directly at her, singling her out over more casual, less-purposeful pedestrians than she....

<Young Man>
::his 'uniform' was the sort you would expect from a local company - nice enough, but without the pomp and pristine nature of a national company. moreover, he wore it casually, with accessories (like a studded leather belt) of his own. the uniform itself was a generic grey two-piece of pants and a jacket over a plain red tee shirt, a forgettable red logo on the back, chest, and shoulder of the jacket. He wore a similar grey cap, military style, with the logo repeated on the cap. His hair, what she would be able to see of it was black, and the features that she could make out from under the brim of his cap were quite fine. he was smiling hopefully::

Hey lady! ::as he approached he called to her with something of the local accent sharpening his voice and making it into something borderline offensive:: Do you know how to get to the Mandrakes Grande Hotel? ::he grinned, his white, even teeth flashing in the sun and his posture looking jaunty and hail-fellow-well-met as he met her, standing only a few feet away::

<Rio>
::She stopped, of course, and watched the young man approach, merely out of mild surprise more than anything.

She was aware that there were so many other people around her, less so obviously intent on their personal missions, that he could have asked for help. Maybe he'd singled her out because she looked like the one who could give him the straightest answer.

However Rio wasn't in the habit of letting herself get away with thoughts when she was being addressed, that would just be a little bit rude. She blinked a couple of times as current, work-related thoughts were figuratively cleared from the desk of her mind so that she could properly talk to this forward courier and send him on his way.::

It's just across the road from PDL, ::she informed, turning side-on to the man who was by now standing beside her, and pointing him clearly in the right direction. Rio continued,:: See that building? With the golden hotel logo on it, ::she happened to glanced to the side before being about to continue, but seemed to pause for a hardly-noticeable split second before speaking again:: ...and the signage saying Mandrakes Grande Hotel above the entrance...

::She let her last words dip very slightly in tone, and Rio resumed a reserved posture, folding her hands over the folio she held at the end of her arms down in front of her. She looked at the hotel for a moment, then to the young man at her side.::

<Young Man>
::the young man looked obligingly in the direction that Rio pointed towards, taking in the golden hotel logo as he was directed to do so.::

Well! ::he said with an edge of tongue-in-cheek humor, glancing sidelong at her as he grinned:: What do you know! If it were a snake, it would have bitten me, don't you think?

Why - ain't the Grande, grand? It looks fit for a Duchess, doesn't it? ::the word 'Duchess' was stressed, very slightly. the average person wouldn't have noticed. and, in fact, with the hustle-and-bustle going on around them, it would take someone paying sharp attention indeed to have picked up on it::

::he shifted the case on his back slightly and grinned at her:: Well, thanks for your help, Miss! I'd better get this to Room 700 right away. ::he touched his cap to her in a cheeky gesture and walked back across the street, towards the Mandrakes Grande Hotel::

::and, if she watched him leave, she might have noticed the case slung across his back had dozens of stickers on it. and one, smaller and less flashy than the others took the form of a red, angular representation of a cat's head. and packing tape had been used to mark out the letters N. S. K.::

::the young man didn't slow or hesitate. when he got to the door to the Mandrakes Grande Hotel, he flashed some sort of paper to the maroon-and-gold uniformed doorman and was let inside immediately, without a backward glance::

<Rio>
Yes, ::she said simply, whether it was to the snake comment or to the grandness of the Grande, she wasn't quite sure. Possibly both.::

::Rio vaguely watched the seemingly scatter-brained courier head for the hotel, noting the stickers on his case, before the cool-headed look on her face indicated she'd lost interest. Though she knew she didn't even need to watch him for as little time as she did.::

::Without another word, except for maybe a quiet nod of acknowledgment once he'd thanked her for the directions, Rio seemed to decide for herself that she would be on her way. She turned and picked up with walking her original path until the end of the plaza. When she reached the end, she waited for the familiar indications at the traffic intersection, for her and the people waiting beside her, to cross the street, without batting an eyelid. Interesting behaviour. It appeared she was just going to go home.::

<Young Man>
::for his part, he rode in the elevator up to the seventh floor, cheerfully whistling and rocking back and forth on his heels, his thumbs hooked onto his belt while he waited for the elevator to reach its destination. there were a few other passengers in the elevator with him and though they shot him curious/disinterested looks, they did not comment or seem to find him particularly unusual::

::when the elevator reached the seventh floor, the young man carefully eased out between the other passengers and disembarked, then proceeded directly to room 700, pulled a card-key out of his pocket, slid it through the door lock, and went inside the room without a second-thought::

<Rio>
::It's good that he didn't have a second thought, otherwise he might have suspected why the door didn't click shut immediately after he walked into the room.::

I guess it's hardly what you can call punctual, but... ::Rio's smooth voice was heard before she was seen, that is to say, because she was standing behind Jin with two fingers of an upturned right hand hooked into the straps of her heels. They dangled rather nonchalantly, her left forearm sitting across her waist with hand cupped under the elbow of the right. You might as well have replaced the shoes with a long cigarette holder. She gazed at Jin.::

Happy to see me? Don't all jump up at once. That is a cute outfit you have on, by the way.

::All of which were delivered in that charming, insufferable, almost-but-not-quite flat tone of hers. XD Rio did smile a little though, at the edge of her mouth, so she wasn't being entirely sarcastic.::

<Jin Li>
::He turned really very quickly for as much awkwardly positioned weight as he likely had on his back, shifting smoothly into a martial artist's stance for only a breath of a moment - but then continued moving without actually pausing as he straightened and grinned easily, using a finger to tilt the cap back away from his face so they could look at each other properly.::

::he was surprised by Rio's being in the room so quickly after him, no doubt. but not shocked. She was, after all, a part of Duchess's little secret agent group. and he hadn't hurried up to the seventh floor either.::

I am, of course, delighted to see you, Rio. ::he replied in his usual, relatively unaccented voice. he was pleased by her tone and smile, however. it would make things so much more fun if she would play along as well.::

::Jin turned away from her - not rudely - and unslung the case as he crossed the room, passing the couch, to put the case on the bed. then he turned back to her and posed - a casual model type pose, his shoulders hunched forward, his thumbs hooked into his front pockets, and his head angled slightly to look at her from the side of his shoulder, under his cap. it was an intentionally slightly ridiculous and slightly simply awesome pose, designed more to make her smile than anything::

What do you think? Courier News Weekly centerfold? ::he made a silly face to complete the 'look' =3= ::

<Rio>
Oh, definitely the lift-out poster. ::she replied, without really looking at him properly, and therefore refusing to appreciate the effort put into the pose, though she did fleetingly acknowledge it.:: You know I almost didn't recognise you.

::There was another smile, this one more pointedly sly than the first, but shown with the meaning of a shared, passing joke.::

::Rio dropped her arms by her sides and stepped silently away from the closed door of the hotel room to a spot in between Jin and the semi-drawn curtains of the window. She stood to face him.::

There are only two things I can guess for your being here dressed and equipped like this, ::she pushed that side lock of her hair behind her ear with her free hand before resting it at her hip:: One, you're bored, neglected and for some bizarre reason now lost in the North End, and by random chance only happened to run into me in the neighborhood. So you decided to try your luck in seeing if I were inclined to humor you, or how entertaining I would be if I took part in your boredom-induced little role-playing game...

Or Two, you were bored and Duchess has something in mind for me? You do look like a perfect errand boy after all. Of course, I'd put my bets on one, ::Rio smiled:: -if I hadn't been suspicious about that case you're carrying and where you, without the help of Duchess, or the motive of some sort of mission, got that fancy room key.

::Her tone was friendly, work-safe, g-rated, wonderful. And Rio laced her little speech with a similar, friendly, work-safe grin of pleasantry. Where she managed to pull that little story was beyond her, but it was said now and she was reasonably satisfied with the output.::

(((OOC: I know you said you might edit this in the morning, but since my parents didn't wake me up when they implied they would, now I'm waiting to eat before going over to help, so I'm going to use this time to post anyway...

If you wanted to edit something for clarification of Rio's actions/words/whatever, feel free. XD And if it changes anything about Jin's responses/reactions, I'll be happy to edit my own post. XD

<333)))

<Jin Li>
::he grinned, even though he did catch that she only barely glanced at him. the comment amused him well enough as it was. he didn't need or want her to actually fawn over him.::

::as she crossed the room, Jin dropped his pose and half-turned to follow her progress across the room. he knew her just well enough to expect her to ask questions without actually asking them directly. he was not, as it happened, incorrect.::

::when Rio spoke, Jin paid her strict attention. she was certainly more educated than he was and more often than not, as sharp as a knife. so he had to stay on his toes whenever they crossed swords, so to speak.::

::he smiled slowly, deeply amused at Rio's first guess of his motives for luring her to the Mandrakes Grande Hotel. his violet eyes sparked with humor, but he didn't bother to respond verbally until she had finished. at her second guess, he only tilted his head slightly - and not in confirmation. but he bowed, his hand over his heart and his back straight - a very proper bow and not one floppy and sarcastic, in response to her comment about the "perfect errand boy". an acknowledgment about his role on the team. only the friendliness in her tone negated the sting that that might have otherwise carried for him. he straightened and smiled::

You do know, of course, that both things could be true? ::he grinned:: D likes to send me on missions sometimes just so I don't go stir crazy and start chewing on the furniture, or whatever she worries about. ::his expression invited her to laugh. at him, at Duchess's opinion of him, at anything::

But - yes. D provided me with the key, and your new toys. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to scare PDL into increasing their security measures to levels D finds more properly acceptable.

::he paused and looked up as if remembering 'the rest of it':: Oh.... And she suggested that you might want to have an escape plan handy. Because when you use this baby, ::he opened the case with a key as he spoke and lifted the lid off to reveal a disassembled rifle carefully packaged within foam settings:: things will get exciting. :3

<Rio>
::She didn't laugh, she simply smiled a little at Jin's verbal quip at Option One. If anything she was appealed by the view Jin took with regards to how he saw his position - with awareness, but not too seriously that he'd be offended by harmless little subjective comments. It was good that he wasn't dislodged by the "errand boy" remark, it had been a remark delivered with the utmost neutrality bordering on the side of positive, after all.::

::Rio hadn't expected a straight up "yes" or "no", "I'm here because" either, so the ground was even. She listened to everything Jin had to say, and waited until he was definitely finished, before moving to speak.::

Security measures...

::Despite her coolness, she did peer inside the case from where she stood, with mild curiosity at the rifle when Jin lifted the black lid. Her eyes widened slightly at the huge, disassembled gun. "You want me to fire at PDL? ... Jesus." But she didn't have enough time to think over that before Jin added his last piece of information to what could barely be called a proper brief. She kept her hand at her hip, and the other handing at her side as she watched Jin appropriately and took it all in.::

An escape plan... ::Rio's voice did not falter in its tone. Then there was a pause as she considered. She used the time to simultaneously come to terms with what the mission was asking of her, and ready queries she needed to confirm with Jin with regards to that.::

All right. Did Duchess only give you access to this room? ::The question had a motive, as she had thought of an idea already.::

<Jin Li>
::he caught the widening of her eyes at the sight of the rifle and smirked slightly to himself. the smirk was more, "ah! I surprised her!" than, "ha ha!" - there was no mockery in it::

Yes, an escape plan. Don't worry, you won't be using live ammo. ::he tapped a case full of multi-colored pellets:: Paint ball gun pellets. Duchess and Sergio tested them thoroughly. By the time they travel from this side of the street to PDL and crash through a window, they'll only have enough force behind them to leave a bruise. No worse than going paint-balling for the weekend with friends. If the window is open, she warns, you should aim for something like a desk or wall, just to be on the safe side.

::he smiled as charmingly as he could, picking up the little clear plastic case full of paint pellets and shaking it:: You can even choose the color. <3

::he continued smoothly, dropping the case back into the rifle's case and turning to her again with a more serious expression (though there was still a smile about his lips. this is, after all, Jin.):: There are two rooms we have keys to. Both give access to this side of the building, but we can easily have the room shifted since the other is right next to the elevator. Atropos informed me that they are only half-booked, so changing rooms wouldn't be a problem and two "different" people have these rooms booked. ::he tilted his head slightly, curiously:: If that answers your question?

<Rio>
::Rio had made her way over to the case as Jin finished his explanation about the pellets. She lifted the lid to inspect its contents, however she made no move to reach inside and take hold of the unassembled parts just yet. Her gaze passed over the gun parts, no apparent change of emotion showing in her features. Rio looked back up at Jin now.::

And suppose they lock down this hotel once the alert has resounded throughout the whole of PDL? D wants to increase their security measures, but I know for a fact that PDL has had enough scares recently that security are at least somewhat snappy. We've been informed that after the last scare they wouldn't hesitate to lock down any nearby buildings that fall into immediate suspicion. They had a big, happy meeting about it and got the CEO's and owners of the surrounding buildings to sign compliance forms. This hotel will be locked down for sure, and when that happens, any civilians they find will be held for scanning.

::Rio seemed to pause here, to let the information she was able to provide, sink in, whether Jin needed to know it or not. Incase he didn't, she didn't pause for long.::

Do you have access to that maintenance room I passed in the hallway, on the way from the elevators? Perhaps if we're lucky we might find a way to disguise our own exits. If there aren't two spare cleaning uniforms, then hopefully there is one so that at least one of us can successfully smuggle that equipment out of this hotel.

::She was thoughtful for another moment.::

It would be even better if D supplied us with a key to the cleaners' exit, that way we could probably escape out the back of the building.

::Rio smiled, only with a hint of impishness, vaguely wondering if her asking for so much would annoy Jin in any way. But Rio wanted to secure her escape plan before worrying about the execution of the mission itself, she did not want to get trapped in something that would really be quite messy if it went wrong.::

<Jin Li>
::He didn't attempt to interrupt her thoughtful monologue while she verbally walked things through before committing to action. He had time, after all, to be at her disposal.::

::And he was specifically instructed not to be overly helpful as it was, after all, Duchess's version of a 'pop quiz'. Duchess had wanted her to be resourceful, but was not going to make things overly difficult for Rio either. So he was only meant to volunteer information or pieces of the puzzle if she directly asked about them.::

::Some of the information Rio related was new to him. Or, at least, it was new in that degree of detail. He'd been told specifically that things would be getting ugly when that shot was fired and he was quite happy to make their extraction as smooth as possible - because he was involved as well and he certainly had no desire to sit around in a holding cell until Duchess's lawyers got him out.::

::So though he did not interrupt Rio, he did nod slightly in confirmation of the idea the hotel would probably be under lock-down shortly after the shot was fired.::

You want maintenance uniforms...? ::he raised his eyebrows slightly and his lips curved slightly upward:: You've got them. D's provided us with some in regulation size. ::ie: "Fitted properly so they don't look too big or small and thus suspicious.":: I can bring them, if you want them.

I don't have a key to the maintenance room, or the cleaner's exit. But I'm sure we can get into the maintenance room, if we tried. And they may have a key.

::he paused shortly and then pulled down the foam along the top half of the case:: Almost forgot. Blueprints to the hotel. ::he pulled the paper out from its hidden location and handed it to her:: D thought it'd be too much of a handicap if you were without it. ::a slight smile:: On a real mission, you'd either have it, or Atropos on the other end of a Comm link.

::he at no point displayed signs of being irritated. since his neck was on the line too - unless she sent him away, that is - he was eager for her to succeed. XD::

::But he did grin a little in response to the impishness in her expression. That was reassuring to him.::

<Rio>
::It was her turn to raise her eyebrows. But before she let herself retort to Jin's response about the uniforms, she realised better, and her expression relaxed into an intelligent smile again.::

So you weren't sanctioned to mention that important detail unless I was insightful enough to ask about it myself, huh? ::She didn't really ask it as a proper question; she wasn't expecting an answer. Rio was now giving that vague smile of silent acknowledgment towards the NSK's, or perhaps Duchess's craftiness.::

::She took the blueprints with some seriousness, but no further comment, and inspected them.::

There's our opportunity. We just have to get down to this level to reach the cleaners' doors here, then we can take the maintenance lift which will bring us down the rest of the building and out through these loading exits.

Jin... ::She turned to him now,:: Where might our lovely disguises reside?

::It was obvious that Rio wasn't in the least bit daunted by this mission, or at least, she didn't seem to be. That she put her mind to work with cool efficiency was probably a relief, if not a benefit. She waited pleasantly for Jin's response.::

<Jin Li>
::So far, Jin found working with Rio quite fun. Or at least interesting. He didn't often have an opportunity to work with people who were not Kijo. Granted, his regular partnering with Kijo on missions was generally successful, whereas his partnerships with other members of Duchess's spy company only had that level of success when they were smaller roles. Most of Duchess's team preferred to work solo, after all... In any case, with Jin Li's missions with Kijo, Kijo did much less verbal planning, which made him miss out on his friend's thinking process. Rio's comparative chattiness was different and he could see where she was going with some of her plans already.::

::So, when she 'asked' her little non-question about what his role was - ie: was he in possession of knowledge and resources he wasn't allowed to tell her about unless she asked him - he smiled in response and nodded slightly. Even though it was a rhetorical question. XD::

::he looked when she pointed to the blueprints, outlining where they would go, nodding slightly to show that he was understanding her - not saying specifically, 'yes, this is a Duchess-approved plan' (and not looking remotely dubious. XD he is just acknowledging)::

Our lovely disguises reside in room 604. ::he produced another card key and held it up for her inspection from between two elegant fingers. allowing her to take it or not as she preferred:: Shall I go fetch? ::he grinned faintly.:: Or would you prefer to do the honors yourself?

<Rio>
::She saw the key being held up, but didn't move to take it from Jin's fingers. Instead, Rio gave him a somewhat sharp smile.:: I think I can trust you to fetch them, if you would be so kind?

::She kept her attention on Jin until he either dismissed himself from the conversation or dismissed himself from the room, that showed on her part, a form of respectful manner before turning back to study her equipment and go over the mission in her head.::

::As much as his constant company was enjoyed (ha) Rio felt like she needed a moment to herself to properly assess the planned task at hand. She let him go with a small smile. Though she didn't expect him to be gone long.::

<Jin Li>
Oh, can you, then? ::he asked Rio archly, his eyebrows raised and his smile playful. he then performed a move that displayed about as much slight of hand as he has (which is barely any, to be honest) and made the card twirl between his fingers before he tucked it into his sleeve.::

But I shall be so kind, my lady. :3 ::he performed another bow - this one entirely silly, rather than sincere (and not mocking) - before turning to exit the room, pausing only briefly as he opened the door to look over his shoulder and judge whether or not he'd ruffled her feathers any. (He didn't, for the record, actually expect to. But he would have been delighted if he had. XD) and then he exited.::

::as it happened, Rio was correct. Jin Li didn't take very long to do down to Room 604 and collect the uniforms. He used his card key to enter the room and proceeded to get the uniforms from the closet. he left them within the unremarkable grey clothing carrying bags. And - unless something upset his intentions, he exited the room and rode the elevator back up to the seventh floor, tapping lightly on the door (to alert Rio that he was returning) and pausing for a beat before using his card-key to let himself within the room.::

Pizza delivery! ::he chirped brightly, intentionally being amusing-annoying.::


((OOC: And, of course, if something did upset his plans and he didn't go right back to the room, we'll scratch that last bit. XD))

<Rio>
::At the bow and the exit, Rio wouldn't admit she was exactly ruffled, only mildly amused. Not even amused enough for a chuckle. But when Jin glanced over his shoulder for a final look to see if he had made some sort of dent in her carriage, Rio gave him the sweetest, most pleasant smile she could muster, though beneath the very edges if one looked carefully, one could find this expression: >:P::

::She kept it at full beam until the door shut behind him. Then she let herself down gently.::

Brat.

::We shall continue on from the moment Jin re-entered the hotel room door. Rio was still there, thankfully, she'd set her shoes down nearby and had sufficiently thought over and mentally prepared herself for this little mission. She was standing, facing the door once Jin came through it, with the fully assembled rifle propped up beside her. Just as he entered, she snapped the scope (the final piece) onto the substantially long gun.::

Don't get any ideas, ::was the first thing she said, before grinning at him with an expression consisting mainly of small, tickled delight from making a small discovery. She turned back to the gun, surveying her work.::

I love how they have little symbols at the slots, just as a friendly reminder to let you know "by the way, this goes here". X3

::"Just to clarify -- Incase you're mildly shocked by how quickly I seem to have put this baby together-- I'm not really a gun freak, I just read the instructions."::

...

::"And let's not go down the bad porn conversation route. Please. Unless you really want to. >:P"::

<Jin Li>
::when he had left the room, he could tell from her beam that he'd at least irritated her. And whether or not that was an amusing 'ruffle of the feathers', it was, at least, a reaction of some sort. So Jin was content. XD::

::Anyway -::

::When he came through the door into the hotel room and she addressed him with, "Don't get any ideas." his expression went faintly blank, because he hadn't had any ideas at all at that point. Except, maybe, "Should I hang up the bags? or unzip one to show her the uniforms?".::

::Jin blinked at her a moment, mildly thrown. "Don't get any ideas?" What sort of ideas? "Don't think you can get away with teasing me any further? (A pizza delivery guy murdered my family and I'm not above using the rifle for revenge.)" or maybe, "Your job isn't done just yet." or "No, you can't handle the gun."?::

::But from her further clarification through the mention of the symbols on the slots, he grinned. Perhaps Jin didn't get her exact meaning. But he certainly did understand she meant, "Don't get any ideas about the gun." and Jin accepted that because he had no ideas about the guns except that he thought the blue pellets would be the funniest to put into the rifle. XD::

Sure. :3 ::and his little cheeky smile kept growing when he suddenly thought of the off-color way to interpret her comment. (Because Jin isn't your average guy and so 'bad porn' doesn't pop into his head nearly as quickly as, apparently, it does into his mun's mind. Which probably goes to say something or another.)::

Did you want to see the uniform? :3

<Rio>
::She had no further response she could make to Jin's reactions, so instead Rio just turned to his last question.::

That would be helpful, don't you think? We should probably get changed now so we can pack up and leave quickly once this crazy job is done.

::Rio set the gun down on it's stand, and if Jin didn't approach her, she walked over to him. In fact, judging by her character, she probably met him half way across the room.::

<Jin Li>
::Jin's lips turned upward again in a cheeky sort of smile. he'd thought of a quip to use, but decided against saying, "Haven't been in the hotel room with you an hour before you try to get me out of these clothes. Was it the uniform?" It was a bit too 'dangerous' to say. He didn't know Rio well enough to kid around with her like that. And he was always more careful with his mock-flirting with women than with men, who were more apt to take it as mock-flirting than most women were. (Not that he felt Rio would have taken it seriously...)::

That sounds like a good plan, Rio. ::he replied instead, the amusement he got from his aborted joke still clear in his tone and sparking in his eyes:: They're coveralls, but there are some shorts and a tee shirt in your clothing bag in case you'd like to change out of your work clothes.

::he took the hanger from the bag containing Rio's uniform from his hand and held it out slightly, offering it to her and casting a significant look to the bathroom. "You can change first, if you'd like?"::

::his eyes flicked to the rifle on its stand and smiled:: And I see you're set up too. Maybe I'll get home tonight in time to watch my stories. ::he lifted his eyebrows with a grin to indicate he is, obviously, not serious about watching soap operas. (particularly considering, y'know, soap operas come on during the day time anyway).::

<Rio>
::Indeed if Jin were to have made that little quip he would have got nought from Rio other than some small remark made almost under her breath but enough for Jin to catch wind of like, "Don't flatter yourself. It doesn't make you any prettier." With no intention of complimenting him at all. XD::

::The gun itself was positioned to point out the window, and if one looked through the scope once it was more finely adjusted, one would see that it pointed into an executive's office, though Jin might not have been informed of exactly which executive it was.::

::She took the bag from him and unveiled the clothes from it while still standing there. What? She had no qualms about doing this, there was nothing to hide yet.::

Hm. ::It was a neutral, space filler noise as Rio held up the coveralls and looked them over. Then she draped the clothes and bag over her forearm and accepted Jin's gesture, walking into the bathroom. She emerged shortly after, wearing the disguise, and though she'd removed her jewelry and toned down her makeup to an appearance more befitting of someone in a maintenance worker outfit, no less of that quiet elegance was there in her presence as she walked out of the bathroom. All she gave to Jin was a smile and a quick word. He could see for himself if the disguise fitted her or not.::

It's all yours.

::Rio then walked over and crouched down to tuck the bag (which she'd filled with her own clothes) into the lid of the gun case.::

<Jin Li>
::as it happened, Jin Li had no idea whose offices were stationed on that side of PDL or even which executives worked there. It made no difference to him. And since he had no reason to enter PDL at that time, it was not part of his briefing. XD::

::While Rio looked the coveralls over, Jin slung his own bag over the back of a chair and took a seat. While she changed and altered her appearance somewhat from how she entered the hotel, Jin did some of the same. He removed the outer items of his clothing, taking off the jacket and studded leather belt and switching his red tee shirt for a white one. he kept his other clothes on, however. He didn't want to be mid-change of his pants when Rio emerged. Not that he couldn't have done it easily - Jin was, after all, an actor and was rarely overly body-conscious - but because it seemed a bit unprofessional in this instance. So he waited.::

::When Rio emerged, he looked her over, thoughtfully. He nodded that she'd remembered to remove her jewelry and approved that she'd thought to tone down her make-up (something many people wouldn't have thought of), but he still wasn't entirely pleased with her look.::

::he frowned faintly. he hesitated. and then he got to his feet and crossed the room toward her, leaving his clothing bag with the uniform within it still slung over his chair:: Very good, Rio. ::he began:: But - ::and here he reached toward her and lightly ruffled her hair:: - you need to be a bit less like a lady. A little scruffier. ::he grinned, quite ready to deflect any physical lashing out in response.:: Loosen up a little. Maintenance workers don't generally walk like they're debutantes fresh from charm school.

::he continued, regardless of her reaction because I am forced-actioning that he'd have been able to catch at least her first physical reaction if she had one to having her hair ruffled while her back was turned. XD she can injure him after he's finished, if it's in-character for her to. XD:: You can act like you want to here, behind closed doors. Just show me you can be a scruffy maintenance worker chick and I'll leave you be. :3

::Jin means no harm. Rather, he wanted her to succeed very much. He thought it'd be less respectful for him to leave any detail that might alert someone they'd rather not alert unattended to.::

<Rio>
::Rio smiled. There wasn't any malice or resentment to the smile, or even her response; it was within Jin's field to offer her pointers on how to properly carry a disguise, after all. She crossed the room to reach the rifle and run a finger along the stock. This move wasn't done with the intention to look alluring, she was just being whimsical.::

::The charm school comment singed a few hairs, and it was to be toward Jin's amusement that he could see it apparent in that very slight way she lowered her eyes to a spot on the floor several feet away from her, and a brief stiffening of her jaw. But Rio, being Rio, and not some truly stuck-up debutante, recovered in good time.::

Of course.

::Her eyes now held Jin's in strong, but not overbearing, contact. Her voice was smooth and controlled again, letting him know she was very politely not going to take any crap.::

When I'm through those doors in the big scary hotel, with people rushing madly to the exits, I'll be Rio: The Unmistakable Scruffy Maintenance Chick just for you, Jin.

::She placed her hand on the gun, simply resting it there and half to indicate that she was now about to make a point concerning it,::

But when I'm in in here, with this mission at hand, I'm Rio, The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. Eagle in sparrow's clothing. Sniper for a test mission run by the N.S.K in maintenance worker's uniform. Is that fine with you?

::It was a decision she'd already made in the bathroom as she was changing; as she took her earrings, necklace and make-up off standing in front of the mirror. Her smile and tone were reassuring, and held only cool-headed confidence. Only the last line had any hint of spiciness to it. She waited to make sure Jin understood this, what she was saying.::