Description: Malin rankles under her yoke, and with the tournament bearing down on them all, it is time to try and kick things into motion. With only one person she can really think of who has both the strength and the possible motive to try and help her, she has to gamble and approach one of the most feared men in the world, Sagat! One of the biggest mouths in fighting meets with one of the most stoic! And only one poor chair gets abused.
Malin has had an interesting time of things since her recruitment into NESTs. She's not been particularly surprised by what she's seen; it operates pretty much like how she thought it would. The big bosses keep the little people in line, and the little people try to get through day by day. Malin never liked the idea of being in a gang for much the same reason, and she dislikes the fact that she can't, currently, just walk away.
She has been doing enough for them lately that she's allowed a little more freedom, though. Truth be told, she has no idea how she's going to worm her way back to freedom, but in the botched operation with Angel, she had found someone else who didn't seem particularly enthusiastic in fulfilling their duties. Sagat could have creamed her like a bug, but he was willing to hold back and give her a chance to get away. That was a good thing, right?
She has to think it is. So, now that she has a few days to herself, she's gone out in search of the Muay Thai god. Say what you like about Malin, she does have a knack for finding people. Clad in her more usual attire, legwarmers, bandana and all, the young fighter has come all the way out to Pai Lon, a tiny village in the middle of the chinese wilderness where, she had heard, that large, bald man of legend might be found.
She's making no real effort to hide herself. She trusts that Sagat will recognize her, even outside of her NESTs clothing. She's not /visibly/ armed (not that this means much with Malin), and her hands are tucked into the pockets of her jacket. She's even smiling, as she nods and acknowledges the few locals out and about in the main village square at this time of the day. The majority of them out working the fields, of course.
That is sometimes the problem with being a seven and a half foot mountain of muscle. Even when one wants to find a place to find a few moments peace people still seem to always find him. His remove cottage out in the middle of nowhere in Thailand? Constantly being visited by people of Shadaloo who don't understand when he isn't doing a mission he wishes to be left alone. Even now in the small village he is at someone seems to have somehow found that he was here.
Though this time it isn't Shadaloo that is seeking him out, but someone that is going through an ordeal much like his own. Malin is just getting to experience being stuck in an organization without really wanting to be there. Yes, Sagat was willingly part of Shadaloo for many years, but now the older fighter much rather just be left alone so he could train and prepare for the day he gets to meet Ryu once again.
If asked about Malin is directed towards the eastern side where baskets of grain and the like are being moved. Sagat is one of said people moving things about. And by moving about he is letting people pile as much as they can on him as he carries. Things over to a wagon to be loaded up. That is when he spots the much smaller Malin not far off. He lets the last of the load get taken from him and he excuses himself as he stalks forward towards the young woman. The cyclops glances downwards and that single eye narrows. "I hope you aren't here to cause trouble. The people here are busy with work."
Malin does eventually ask, and when directed, she feels a little silly. It isn't like Sagat is the most innocuous person around. She seems pretty relaxed as she makes her way over to him, and comes to a stop with, a respectable distance between her and him. She's a lot of things, but Malin is starting to learn that 'paranoid' needs to be up there. She wanted this to go well, but if she was going to get a flaming tiger knee in her face, she'd like a moment of warning first.
"Me? Cause trouble?" She asks, a cheeky smirk growing on her features, "Come on, big guy, you know better than that, right? I'm not looking to cause any trouble. If I wanted to cause trouble, trust me, you are one of the last people in the world I'd want around."
She brings her hand out of her pocket, revealing a bag of dried tea leaves. "I was thinking, after all that, you know, stuff. You were nice to me. I can't think of too many other people who have been. I wanted to say thanks. See if you'd like to share a cup with me."
She casts an appraising eye over the baskets, and makes a bit of a face. "Heavy lifting isn't really my thing..." She starts, "But, I can lend a hand, I guess. If it gets us to the bit where we can talk quicker. God knows how long I've got before Angel gets all, kill-trigger happy."
If he is going to be violent he isn't showing signs of it. Then again the man is experienced enough he probably doesn't need much time to snap a kick that could probably remove the head of Malin if he wanted to. His gaze travels down to the leaves then back to Malin. Nice? He wasn't sure if he was being that. It was more the fact he was trying to show mercy which isn't something he is still quite used to doing.
"They have other tasks for the women. I do not believe you would want to help with those." The girl doesn't look like she is much at food preparation or the like afterall. He is curious as to why she truely decided to seek him out. They were on opposite sides of a rather troublesome war between both Shadaloo and NESTS. He has to wonder if that other woman that was with Malin might be off in hiding. If they try an ambush around innocents....well he will have to get very angry.
"What do you really wish to talk about. I doubt you really came all this way just to share some tea." He motions towards some chairs and the like set up off to the side where they can talk. He himself just leans in against the wall of the building with only a small amount of his weight. Even still it groans a bit from feeling him press against it. This girl doesn't seem like a typical agent so for now he seems patient enough to see what she wants.
"Heh, good call, good call." Malin says, as she moves to settle on one of the chairs. Turning it around, and straddling it. Because that is how all the coolest people sit on chairs. In the most uncomfortable possible fashion.
"Yeah, look, I respect you too much to spin you a line." The young fighter says, waiting for Sagat to get himself comfortable before she'll continue. "So, I'll cut to the chase. I've been messing with you Shadaloo types for years, none of you ever tried to play fair before. Now, say what you like about Malin, Malin isn't stupid, you get me?" She flashes a brighter smile, and adjusts her bandana with her hand, so she can look Sagat in the eye.
"I already told that blonde bimbo you got on book that I ain't got much of a choice in things. See, I'm not big on, the whole, killing people thing. That's not how the game is played. I don't know if she bothered passing it on to Big Red, but, I figure, you are in a similar situation to me, right? It doesn't take a genius to see that neither of us are exactly cheerleading for Team Evil over here, am I right?"
The perceptive will notice that, despite the swift tone and easy way she's trying to speak, Malin is actually sweating a little. She's ninety nine per cent sure that NESTs aren't following her, and that they don't have her bugged, but, who the heck could be sure? Maybe her head would explode... that would be bad.
So his assumptions were right it would seem. Malin seems to be working for NESTS at the moment much how Sagat is working for Shadaloo. He listens intently and that that single eye never moves its gaze away. He can only conclude she is talking about Cammy as well when mentioning the blonde bimbo. He is starting to wonder if somehow Cammy has just ran out and tried to talk with every single person in the world at this point. He doesn't remember her always being such a weird social butterfly before.
He sort of tilts his head about to look around just to make sure there are no prying eyes or ears too close for their own good as well. While Malin might not be bugged or followed there is always the chance there is a Shadaloo agent in disguise listening in to report to Vega.
With it seeming to be clear he looks back to her. "And now that you got dragged in you can't escape I take it." he finally says and gives a shake of his head. "I am hoping you are not coming to ask for me for advice. If I had any to give on the subject I wouldn't exactly be in my current position." he tells her. "They might act like they forget about you, but when they need you they will always come knocking at your door."
Malin's grin only gets wider, "Advice? Nah, I've got a /plan/."
She rocks back on the chair, still straddling it the wrong way, but bringing it up onto two legs. Apparently, just to show off that she can. "It's true, right now, I'm not going anywhere. They've put something in me that they tell me will make me bite the big one if they get too annoyed. It's a drag, but, hey, it's what I'd do to me too, I guess." She shrugs her shoulders, "Now, the plan is... well, it's pretty convoluted, but..."
The chair rocks forwards, and she goes with it, rolling, to come up next to Sagat. Now, she's whispering. Just in case. This would look pretty weird to anyone who happened to be watching, villager or spy. "There's this big tournament coming, right? It's got the bigwigs all freaked. So. Towards the end, everyone is going to be going crazy. Now. If I capture you, bring you in to their big database place, but don't /really/ capture you, you can cause all kinds of a ruckus. That'll give me the time I need to take out the electronics. I fry their computers, they don't know how to kill me. I can then come down and help you bust out... and, if it all goes swimmingly, well! Your bosses don't know what the heck happened to /you/, right?"
Unless Sagat grabs her, she'll slip backwards, then, and sit on the (knocked over) chair. "We then go our separate ways, and we're on the road again! I know, I know, I'm a genius."
The larger fighter makes no movement to back away when she moves in to speak in a lowered tone. His features do twist a bit more into a frown the longer she explains her plan. He never has been one for strategy and even he can see some holes in the plan that is presented to him. He may not know who is at the helm of NESTS for sure, but he seriously doubts the higher ups would be so easily handled.
He reaches out and a meaty hand lightly pats Malin on the head while he straightens back up. The hand is pulled away and he folds those massive arms over his chest. "Little girl, there are such thing as bad plans. I am sure those above know of your capabilities and mine. Do you really think they would believe you could capture me and keep me under control for one." It isn't a boast, but a cold hard truth. They know Sagat is capable of easily handling someone like Krizalid on his own without too much trouble. "I understand you wish to be free, but you must also take your time. Be sure when to act or else you will perish."
He lets out a bit of a sigh and he begins to turn his attention back towards the men that are moving the grain and other supplies. "I cannot help you in this case. I apologize. Is there anything else you need?" he asks while sparing a glance over his shoulder at the smaller fighter.
Malin shrugs, "It doesn't have to hold up long..." She starts to protest, even letting the pat on her head go unchallenged. Despite the fact that she hates being treated in such a manner. After a moment of tense, uncomfortable silence, in which Malin glares up at the larger man... she finally concedes, and kicks herself up, flipping the bottom of the chair around and putting it back where it was.
"Well, it was worth a shot." She says, shrugging again. She shakes her head, "It was nice to meet you, big guy. Nice to know I was right, too. It's important we know where our friends are, right? Before we go sticking knives in any backs."
A flashed smile, and she gives a loose salute. "I'm sure we'll see each other again some time. Probably sooner than we'd like, if my guesses keep being right."
It is hard for Sagat to say he has any true friends. If anything Malin is just someone he can sympathize with. Both are in places they don't want to be. Both probably just want to have, at least what they consider, normal lives. With the mention of the tournament coming up she might just be right about them meeting again sooner than either would like given the circumstances. He just nods. "Be careful at the tournament. The girl that was with me that night at the base will be there as well. I doubt she has fond memories of how you embarassed her."
He can only hope Juri doesn't run into Malin. This time around things might not go so well for the young fighter and if someone like Sagat isn't around to stop that demented broken doll he isn't sure what might happen. That tournament might be the rare time where Malin might want to keep close to her current 'employer' just because she might be slightly safer with them in some cases.
"I wish you luck. Perhaps one day we can both meet when we are both free of our current problems." he tells her and he goes back to stalking forward. Nothing else is said or needs to be said at this point. If he is going to waste breath he may as well be carrying things and helping the older villagers save their backs some pain.
Malin laughs cheerfully, "I'm /always/ careful, big guy, don't you worry about that! The pointy-haired freak will have to work pre-tty hard if she wants to catch up with me again~. You just leave it to Malin, big guy, we'll be okay."
Despite the fact that things didn't go exactly how she'd like, she seems to be quite happy again, a spring in her step as she heads back out of the village. As she's going, an observer would watch as she casually reverses her jacket, and her bandana. From relatively bright colors down to dark, earthy tones. Because it never pays to stay looking the same for too long. And after a horse and cart pass her by, momentarily obscuring her from vision, the girl disappears completely.
Log created on 10:51:02 01/06/2011 by Malin, and last modified on 12:44:07 01/06/2011.