A Sacramento Hotel

With gritted teeth and a hunched over posture to hide his shameful experience, Ivan lurched into the hotel he'd been staying at for several days now in Sacramento. He growledi n a hushed whisper to himsel, cursing Michael and the tattoo he bore unwillingly.

With a loping gait, and his trench coat wrapped around him in the most awkward of ways, he approached the front counter. Perhaps some food and a drink would calm the Tattoo for a while.

He ordered a stale tasting cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee, taking a seat near the entrance of the hotel lobby. He had to be prepared for anything, anyt-

Another surge if pleasure, and Ivan groaned in angry arousal. "Damn Tattoo..." he muttered again, before straightening up, and taking a sip of his coffee.

Elata wandered down the street after getting her tooth removed. She was starving! She had been far too busy all day to eat and now she was paying for it. Oh well, she'd just go to the closest place with food and surely they'd have something she could suck through a straw. She brightly walked into a nearby hotel and hopped up on a stool near the counter. She then noticed the man who left the library earlier. He looked upset.

"Hello!" She greeted brightly and waved.

Ivan glanced upward, instantly recognizing one of the people from the library, specifially, the annoying red-head that had been bothering the rest of the group at the table. He gave her a pained wave in response, his Tattoo stil lsending wave after wave of embarrassing pleasure. 'All this over a paper cut?!'

He noticed the red-head still standing there smiling, and tried to offer a weak grin. The rushes of ecstacy were beginning to die down, and he stuttered something out to the woman before him. "Uuh, hi there...Miss..." He stuttered, a rush of pleasure shooting down his spine as he spoke.

"Are you doing okay? I'm gonna buy myself a milkshake would you like one?" Elata said to the awkward looking man. She turned to a waitress and ordered a couple milkshakes without waiting for an answer. Then she noticed the poor man's finger. "Oh no! It looks like you got a papercut. I hate those, let me make it better!" Before he could protest she grabbed his hand and gave the cut a little kiss. "There, how's that?"

Ivan was entirely taken off guard by the bizarre generosity and out-going nature of this woman before him. However, the touch of her kiss, which to any normal person would have made them feel better, numbed the pleasure that was radiating from the Tattoo, and he managed to recline slightly.

Sighing with a bit of relief, he eyed the red-head approvingly, happy to see he wasn't the only one who tried to help those seemingly in need. "A little bit. 'Course, better is all subjective to me nowadays. Thanks anyway I suppose."

Ivan was a nervous, shy sort of fellow, and his voice came out in meek, gap-filled speaking which made hi a mumbler of the worst kind. Still, he feigned a half-hearted smile towards his new-found friend, or at least, ally.

"You look much more relaxed. It's been awhile since kissing an owie actually worked! What an awesome day!" Elata thought this guy was cute with his shyness. As the waitress set the milkshakes down she slid one over to him. "So, are you actually staying at this hotel?" She said as she very carefully took out her dental gauze and sipped cautiously through the straw.

'Certainly has been a long time...' Ivan thought, reflecting on old memories, and somewhat losing himself in his childhood as a result of the woman's comment. He stayed silent, taking a spoonful of the milkshake she had ordered for him.

Ivan was one of those men who could sit in total silence with a complete stranger, and not have it feel or seem awkward. He reveled in the silence, before looking back upat the red-head with slightly renewed eyes.

"So, what's your name, Miss?"

" I am the great Elata!" she said bowing and laughing. "I'm a performer in a traveling circus act.Have a free ticket!" she whipped a ticket out of her bra and slapped it down next to his milkshake. " And what would your name be sir?" After an odd sensation where her tooth should be she decided to eat with the spoon like her new friend.

Ivan tugged at the dark bags under his eyes. He needed sleep, he could feel it in his bones. At the same time, there was something uplifting about speaking with someone so carefree, so excited about life, who had no knowledge of the horros that existed. He smiled in a forelorn way.

"Know what? I'll take you up on it and come see your show tomorrow. Thanks for the free invite." Ivan'scheek bones shuddered with a weary smile, but it was one of genuine promise.

Elata beamed back as genuinely as her new friend. She loved giving away free tickets. Usually she would give them to children but since she was planning a more mature show, she thought that she should get some adults involved. Tomorrow would be a very busy day. She had an object to do some research on, lots of practicing for the current show, and writing for the new one, but she couldn't think of a better way to spend her time than meeting people and spreading the word about the circus. She sighed happily as Lucas popped into her mind again. She prayed he also took up her free ticket offer. "So! What were you doing at the library earlier? Checking out some erotic novels?" she said playfully with a wink. It was surely an awkward question but asked in the friendliest of ways, as one would taunt a friend.

Ivan blanched in shame, cursing under his breath. He forgot about the slip-up moan from the library, and the fact that Elata had been there.

"No, I was uh...well, I saw those interesting fellows you were with and..." He stammered for an excuse, realizing one instantly.

"I'm sort of a...private detective, and was investigating them. It was just a little stake-out, but I got interrupted..." Now Ivan faltered, what excuse could he have for such sudden arousal as the one brought on by the Tattoo of Masochism?

"I had a call, hunched over in my coat so no one could hear the...uh, the Cheif. That's right." Ivan was blushing like mad, and rubbed at the scruffy goatee under his chin nervously.

Elata laughed heartily. "HAHAHA! You're a horrible liar. That, or you have a very interesting relationship with your cheif." she said with a bright smile. "You don't have to tell me what you were looking at if you don't want to though. I'll let you keep it to yourself. You still haven't told me your name." She wasn't sure if he wasn't answering her questions because of his shyness or because he didn't want to, but she figured she might as well give them another try. She smiled kindly and nommed some more milkshake.

Feeling wisened and inspired by this young woman's seeming naivity, Ivan decided to try his hand at story-telling, in a kinder mood than he usually felt. He leaned in close, as he did with all the younger Seekers he had trained in the past.

"Wanna know the truth, Elata?" Pausing for dramatic affect, he leaned back, smirking like a wise old man, even though he was only twenty three.

"My name is Ivan Crowely. I'm what you could call an adventurer, though it's nothing liek the movies yo usee on TV. And... Iwas spying on those men. I thought they were up to something bad."

"oh really? tell me more," she emplored excitedly. She loved exciting situations, and being in them. She traced several of the scars along her arms and the tops of her thighs as she took a tentative sip of the milkshake and settled in for a good story.

The black-haired young man took notice of Elata's scars and her rubbing of them, and made a mental note of concern for her in the back of his mind.

Having not thought things through this far, he toyed with the idea of telling her about the Objects. Suddenly his mind backlashed. Tell someone as sweet, as innocent as the red-headed woman here before him about the Objects? He would never, not after Alice. He resorted, instead, to being vague.

"Yes. Long ago, when our world was young and filled with horrible monsters, a great many number of...items, were created. These items had terrible, evil abilities, and if all of them were brought together...it is said a horrible fate will befall all of the universe."

Ivan took this time to pause, and examine his audience's reaction. To Ivan's surprise, he did not see much awe or shock on the woman's face, but what almost seemed to be understanding. Did she...no, not possible. Not this girl, not Elata. Ivan prayed for that.

He continued, dismissing his suspicion. "Those who hunt down these items, are known as 'Seekers.' Some Seekers are good, but soem are evil. Some WANT the world to be destroyed by the ob- er, items."

Ivan grinned finally, triumphantly at his new-found friend and audience. "I am one of those good Seekers, and I believed those men were bad ones. That is what I was doing in the library."

"Bad seekers? Well I don't think anyone is BAD really. It's all in your perspective. People will use the objects like they want to. I of course wouldn't bring any harm with them unless I was defending a person. And oh my goodness! So many seekers in one place! Something very interesting must be happening!" Elata bounced excitedly. Never before had she met another seeker since she herself had become one, now today she had met five! And all in the same building! However the matter that they WERE probably doing things societally considered bad did bother Elata. She didn't like seeing people hurt. She decided to voice her worries. "of course since I wouldn't bring harm to anyone, I hate to see people hurt. What are these seekers doing that you think is bad?"

Ivan spit out a bit of milkshake in surprise, widening his eyes in shock at the young red-head. "You're a Seeker?!" He couldn't believe his ears, that someone so naive and carefree, knew anything about the Objects, was mind boggling.

Collecting his nerve a little bit, Ivan sat back in his chair, eyeing the paper cut on his finger now with intent. "I'm not so sure...I didn't know they were suspicious at all, but something tells me they were up to trouble."

Suddenly, Ivan realized with a bit of smugness to him, that Elata had been there with them. "Tell me, Elata. What did they say while you were around? I don't mean to pry..." He shyly realized his intrusive nature, but shrugged it off for the thought of greater knowledge. Then, he also came to another realization.

"Oh, and I might as well tell you now. That 'incident' I had was due to this paper cut...I have the Tattoo of Masochism on my back...pain equals pleasure, for me."

"oooooooh that makes sense!" Elata was happy to talk about seeking stuff with someone so she gladly divulged what she heard. " I wasn't around for a LOT of the conversation. Especially argyle just wanted to be left alone i think," she paused breifly to wipe some milkshake off of her new friend's shirt. "but they were talking about something called muramasa. they said it was some sort of legend about a cursed blade or something, it's what i want to base my next show on! i can't wait to make the costumes! anyway, i think they were looking for it or something." She paused a minute more to think of anything else he might want to know. "i'm not sure what it has to do with anything, but lucas seemed to make argyle angry, well, i brought up his missing wife from a long time ago, and he punched me with his gun, but he also seemed to be mad at lucas. I don't know why since he didn't really say anything mean to him. Lucas seems really nice" Elata blushed a little thinking about him again. She couldn't wait until tomorrow!

'Oh, Michael is gonna love this!' Ivan's thoguhts swirled, aas he mulled over what Elata had just informed him of. He guessed that Argyle was the red-haired man, but wasn't so sure about the other, named lucas. As far as Ivan knew, there had only been three people at the table, Argyle, Elata, and the other man, who was strangely 'cold.'

"He shouldn't have smacked you with his gun..." Ivan frowned, he didn't like to hear of people being harmed, especially those who were kind and innocent, and especially friends. Elata fit that bill perfectly.

"Listen, Elata. I think you should stay away from anyone you met today besides me, at the library. I know, maybe I don't seem to trustworthy, but...all of those men there, they might be looking for trouble."

'Muramasa...' Ivan had never heard the name before, perhaps it was an Object? It was a blade, so that was entirely possible. Still, he looked over at Elata, re-examining the scars on her arms and smiling in a brotherly way.

"Take care of yoruself, don't trust anyone of those men. If I'm right, they may be planning to harm you, but in what way, I don't know. I need some rest...but I promise I'll come see your show tomorrow!"

"oh of course! you look tired. It was really great talking to you and i'm so happy you'll be there!" she hopped off the stool and gave him a tight hug after leaving the waitress a generous tip. "you take care of yourself too, and you don't have to talk to me like i'm a kid, i'm 30 years old. Bye sweety!" She walked energetically out the door and home to make her costume. She would have skipped but that might dislodge the extra dental gauze she had to put in after finishing her shake. Tomorrow would be such an exciting day, she hoped she could sleep.

The orning sun filtered in through the hotel's cheap glass windows, and struck Ivan like a slap across the face. His elation from encountering another, friendly Seeker the day before was gone. The sunlight was not friendly orange, as portrayed in most television shows. It was piss yellow, piercing the eyelids of the twenty three year old man annoyingly.

Ivan awoke in a haze, and put on his bathrobe without getting a shower. The deep circles under his eyes just proved how restless he was at night.

Rifling through his duffel bag on the floor, Ivan found what he was looking for; the wire tap for the microphone he had placed in his useless book to spy on Lucas and the others. Placing the headpiece in his ear, he hit play, rewinding to the beginning and listening in on the whole conversation, gleaning what he could of a creature they were searching for. He learned quite quickly, whatever this being was was known as 'Muramasa.'

As he sat, he reflected on the day before, noting all who had been in the library, especially Elata. His eyes fluttered to the ticket on his dresser, and he toyed with the idea of going to the show. 'Better check with Michael, first...'

After gleaning what he could from the recordings, he hoisted himself up and began to pack his belongings. He was ready to leave the hotel and search Sacramento for one last day, although perhaps, Michael would send him back on assignment due to this Muramasa character. He put on some more appropriate work clothes, including his trench coat, and checked out of the hotel, leaving no trace he had even been there.