Description: Revenue's gotta come in, hurricane or not. So of course the casino would still be doing business on Zack Island. Tina Armstrong meets a fellow who might have a secret he's not telling her. A low-key conversation about uncles and the inability to follow one's own path happens!
A far cry away from many of the events in the mainlands, Zack Island has been wracked by it's own problems. A hurricane blew through, and while it didn't evel everything, many things don't look quite as.....wonderful as they used to, but salvageable. Ironically, the casino is still working.
Which is where Tina Armstrong is sitting at a blackjack table, playing a casual game of, wouldn't you know it, blackjack. Can't exactly play poke at a blackjack table. She seems to be doing alright, just talking with the dealer over minor things wearing her usual wardrobe instead of a bikini that most of the people at Zack Island tend to prefer.
Tina wouldn't be the only one not exactly wearing the preferred attire of beachgoing Zack Islanders. There's a tall, slim fellow moving amongst the tables, as if looking for something. Though it may be hard to tell if it's a man or not, given the face. Whoever it is, is wearing a long purple garment, pressed slacks, and what looks like dress shoes. Also has long hair, done up in a braid with a large white ball on the end of it.
As noted, this person moves through the tables looking from one side to the other, as if searching for something. It's not overly noticeable, but someone who's looking at him(?) will see his eyes darting to people sitting at the tables. Perhaps he's looking for someONE.
Tina loses another hand and shrugs as the dealer takes her chips for her bet away. "ah well." She says softly before she notices the man in the dress clothes. She turns towards him and tilts her head. "Looking for someone?" She says as the dealer starts to deal the cards again, she gestures for him to join her at the table. "If you'd like that is."
Duo looks in Tina's direction as she speaks. Then he realizes she's speaking to him and looks back at her, as if surprised. Though he seems to recover quickly, and nods. "...My uncle." It isn't, but maybe he can get some information on who he IS looking for. "Seen him? Average height, white hair, kind of thin? Hair in a short ponytail."
Tina Shakes her head. "I don't think so. The island was recently hit by a hurricane and this is one of the more hospitable areas on the island." She says before looking at her cards, and points to her cards...to hit her. She gets a 6, just barely putting her over 15. "Ugh." She groans. "What's his name? I might be able to call a few friends and keep an eye out for him."
His name? Shoot, Duo didn't think she'd be so concerned with his 'family' as to follow up on it! And he doesn't want her to get involved in this, his business isn't the kind that random observers should get in on. Thinking quickly he offers, "...Yong Jia." First thing he could think of. He has to suppress a wince.
Though now he kind of needs to try to get her mind off it. So he joins the table proper. He has a little bit of money and a fake ID, he shouldn't get in too much trouble. "Probably got caught up in the slot machines," he reasons.
"you never know. These machines that Zack has can be pretty fun." Tina reason and looks towards the slot machines, but then turns towards the table...pointing to her cards. 7...crap. "Lost again. Dang." She then shrugs. "Yong Jia hmm? I'll see if I can find him." She says writing something into her phone. "What's your name?" She asks of Duo Lon.
Duo nods at the statement of the machines being fun. "That's how they make money," he adds. He shifts a little as his name is asked, uncomfortable suddenly. He's not going to give his real name. "Qiu Jia," he gives instead. That's not the name on his ID but it'll have to do for now. His ID is safely tucked away in his pocket anyway so it shouldn't cause any trouble so far. "Thank you. I'm sure he's fine. But it's just nice to know."
Tina says, "I totally understand. My dad might be a pain, but it's still nice to know that he's doing okay. I'll run into him again eventually." She then nods at his name. "Tina Armstrong." She gives her real name since she has no reason to hide herself. "Nice to meet ya, hun." She says holding out her hand to him."
Duo looks at her hand as if he doesn't quite know what to do with it for a moment. But he does finally return the handshake, after little more than an awkward beat or two. His fingers are slim, and his nails are quite long but well-kept. And... his hand is cool to the touch. Abnormally so in fact. "Good to meet you, Miss Tina," he offers.
Tina smiles a bit before releasing his hand. "I'm sure your uncle is fine, Mister Jia. I think that's how it goes."
Duo gives an affirmative sound to Tina's words. "Slot machines and their glittering lights and shiny metal, hm?" he says, a teasing note to his voice. The corner of his mouth tilts up in a small smile.
Tina chuckles a little bit. "yeah. some of them are really nice. Seems Zack has dedicated one to me though." She says getting up and walking over to the slots.....showing off one of the slots that seems to have Tina on it.
Duo turns his head to follow Tina as she stands up and heads to one of the machines. Looks at the machine. Looks at Tina. Raises an eyebrow. "Does he know you?" he asks. Because 'Qiu' doesn't seem to know who she is by name or appearance.
Tina says, "Seems that way. If you follow professional wrestling, you'll know my dad, Bass Armstrong. He's trying to get me to take over the family business and I'd like to get into modeling, movies, and more. But he doesn't like it, naturally." Tina relates. "So, I did what any sane girl would do. I rebelled and fought him. Won too.""
"I've heard the name," Duo admits at the mention of Bass Armstrong. "But I grew up in a place with one TV in the whole town." And he looks pretty young, if his face can be trusted as an accurate gauge of how old he is. So it's possible Bass was before his time anyway. As for modeling and movies? "Why can't you fight and model?"
Tina says, "Exactly. Why can't I do both?" She says quickly. "Well...I guess I could head back to the cities and find out what's going on. Been kind of a blackout since the hurricane came through. I wonder if the radio station's been repaired.""
Duo emits a quiet, confused sound. "Maybe he thinks a model won't be taken seriously as a wrestler," he suggests. It's hard to tell what his feelings are on the matter. His face stays nigh-unreadable, and his voice remains calm and even. He doesn't show a lot of emotions in general actually. As for the radio station? "I don't know." Completely true, he'd snuck in here from a completely unexpected direction.
Tina says, "You never know. But I'm just as good as he is, just quicker." She says as she moves to the door and looks outside. OUtside, it's still really run down, even if part of it looks like a paradise. "Ah well. It was nice to meet you, Mister Jia." She says softly. "I should head to my hotal for a bit. I'll give you a call if I spot your uncle, okay?""
'Qiu' nods as Tina mentions heading back to her hotel. At the offer to call him, he says, "Thank you. I appreciate that." With any luck she won't find Duo's target... because she might get hurt. Besides, the business Duo needs him for isn't something he wants others getting involved with. "Do take care, Miss Armstrong."
Waving to Duo Lon, Tina heads out and goes right for the radio station to see if it's repaired. It only takes a few minutes, before she's back in her hotel room and changing clothes. The day was still young and she was on a tropical island paradise....so, it was time for a swim. She was still enjoying her time, here...but she wasn't relaxing as much as she was partly relaxing, partly training. A tropical paradise had that sort of way with people.
Log created on 14:28:46 03/12/2015 by Duo Lon, and last modified on 16:57:30 03/12/2015.