Dr Nows

Vance was sitting in his hotel and toying with a number of small gizmos. His gun and sword were on the table, and so were a number of other odds and ends. While Vance's personality made him bad at being a Quincy, it made him pretty darn good at fiddling with things that Quincy used. Today was no different, he was working on a pair of gloves, though he didn't know for who. He didn't usually ask, he just made them. Unfortunately it took him a while to gather the materials that were required for making Quincy items because Vance couldn't just summon Reishi.

He looked down the barrel of his gun before sliding it back into place and moving the holding pin to the bottom of the handle. He was careful but not fast, as he never really liked rushing things. He could have stripped it probably in three to five seconds if he really wanted. He finished cleaning the weapon and applied a bit of frog lube before sliding the chamber out and pressing his distinct bullets into the chamber.

He went back to weaving power into the form for the gloves for the next few hours before stretching and looking at a clock on the wall. He had used a good part of his day crafting and figured it was time to go out. Vance grabbed his coat and slid his gun into it's holster before taking the large bag that had his smaller case for his sword with him. As usual, he filled out on Ginto and shots and headed out of his hotel room and wandered off towards the Interpol building.

It wasn't a long walk, but it didn't take Vance very long to realize, the air seemed a little to still for him. He looked around, not really sure what he was looking for, but still thinking it to be out there before shrugging. He found a small bar and decided to head inside. Not like wasting time was going to matter anyway so long as he waited for a call from work.

Dietrich gracefully glided through the entrance of the Musée des Confluences. His presence turned heads as he passed museum patrons. Dressed in a custom fitted black suit and tie that only made his crimson hair stand out even more than usual. It wasn't unusual that attention be drawn to him, so he paid no mind. Though he was sure the attention he was drawing was more for the large unleashed dog at his side. He had only been inside for a few moments when he was approached by a couple of security guards. "Sorry Sir, we have a strict no dogs allowed policy, so we are going to have to politely request that you leave the premises." One guard spoke as they began to lead Dietrich back out. "Oh, forgive my misunderstanding. I was under the impression my arrival was to be expected." Dietrich said in a calm cool tone, as he let the guards escort him. Rias let out a a huff as she followed in step without any command. They were no more than a handful of steps from the exit when they heard someone call out in urgency as they ran towards them from behind. "Wait!" Shouted an older male in his late forties as he raced to them. Once he caught up, he tried to catch his breath. "This man is... a personal guest... of the donor for today's exhibit unveiling." He stated still trying to catch his breath. "That may be Sir, but..." The guard started but was interrupted. "I will take full responsibility for this gentleman's companion. Monsieur Lorentz, please come with me." He politely requested of Dietrich before giving the guards any time to respond.

"Forgive me for the trouble you have experienced today, Monsieur Lorentz." The gentleman pleaded as he escorted Dietrich and Rias to the new exhibit. "Nonsense. There is no need for any apologies or forgiveness." Dietrich stated with a gentle coolness in his voice. "Thank you so much, monsieur. Other's in your position would've handled that much more differently." The gentleman said inciting a chuckle from Dietrich. "Well I'm certainly not like any other person you have had the pleasure of interacting with. I would not fault anyone from acting according to their positions." Dietrich responded as they came up to the crowd at the exhibit that was going to be unveiled in mere moments. "Well thank you again for excusing the troubles. I must return to my post, but please do enjoy the event. And if there is anything that you or...your companion may need, please don't hesitate to call on me." The gentleman spoke but let Dietrich dismiss him with a slight nod.

Dietrich looked on as the museum went forward with the unveiling. Little did they know that the items in the exhibit on loan were actually his own collections. He always liked loaning his collections of antiquities to museums across the world. Museums would unknowingly contact persons tied to Dietrich thinking the antiquities were those of the ones they were contacting. In turn those contacts would broker a deal and contact Dietrich with the details. They were also the ones standing next to the museum heads at each unveiling while Dietrich stayed in the proverbial shadows as an honored guest. Dietrich liked to see peoples facinations with the items on display. He'd mingle with the guests and give his "version" of the items history to anyone who might listen, as he'd done on numerous occasions.

Dietrich's day continued on as usual with nothing out of the ordinary happening. Once the event slowed down, he thanked the museum staff and took his leave and jumped into the back of a black SUV. On the way to his hotel he had the driver drop him off some blocks away. He liked to interact with the locals and tourists and felt walking was best to do that. Rias accompanied him as he walked. In the distance he noticed a particular adult male go into a bar. His interest piqued, he walked over to the bar and walked in with Rias in stride. As he entered the bar, who he assumed to be the owner made a B-line towards him in haste and began to angrily shout in french at him for bringing a dog into his establishment. Dietrich took it in stride with his calm cool voice and began to speak to the man calming him down. I'm sure it was the handful of money he gave the owner that quelled that fire, as he agreed to let Dietrich stay with Rias by his side. He took a seat at an open booth and ordered a single malt scotch, and just sat patiently.

Vance listened to the man yell in French, something about the dog.  Vance wondered what kind of person had pissed off someone with the audacity to bring a dog into a bar but decided he wasn't going to care much about it.  Not like he was going to do anything about it.   Vance took his phone out and looked at his emails as he took a sip of whatever whiskey the bar had.  It was smooth but there was little pallet to it aside from the fact it had been made.   He was reading on other cases that got shifted to his department.  He had no real authority and just worked with local enforcement to do X or Y or spread his expertise.  

Which, sadly meant that when something went wrong, Vance  had to solve the problem the Quincy way, as most, if not all his problems were directly related to some dragon or hollow going off the rails or some supernatural human being detached from reality.  No matter what it ended badly.  After all Vance didn't have power in the grand scheme of the word, he was essentially Batman in a world full of supermen.  Which just meant he had to work harder.   He was also one hell of a magician, after all, always be the smartest person in the room.

When the barman calmed down about the dog, Vance turned to look.  The man and his dog were both distinct and Vance was very quickly confused.  At least the man understood how to drink, which made him raise his glass to the order of single malt.  The barman went back and Vance asked for the bottle before heading to the table with a pair of glasses.  He approached cautiously, as the last dog Vance had seen was a dragon in Whales that had tried to bite him to death.  He offered a hand for it to sniff before placing the bottle and glasses on the table.   "The only other person who knows how to drink, I see.  Can I join you?" He said politely offering the bottle.  Though unlike most people, Vance didn't seem to care about the aura of authority or influence the man had.  Vance had been raised by people with a lot more spiritual pressure than him and he didn't seem to care much about it if at all.  He also couldn't tell without looking at Reiryaku and had no intention of reading them at the moment.

It didn't take long for the waitress to return with Dietrich's order of scotch. He thanked her and gave her a generous tip before proceeding to enjoy his drink. His eyes scanned across the bar, taking in all those around. No one stood out except for the man that piqued his interest in the first place. Dietrich raised his glass in response to the other gentleman. He was pleased when he saw him get the bottle of scotch and two glasses from the bar. "Let him come." He whispered to Rias raising the glass to his lips to cover it up as the young man began to approach. He finished his drink and Rias just calmly sat next Dietrich as the young man offered up his hand.

"Well, if you are going to do something, you might as well do it right. Even if it something as easy downing a stiff drink." Dietrich smiled and waved his hand to the empty seat in front of him. "Please. I must say your timing is impeccable." Dietrich raised his empty glass before setting it aside for the ones that the young man brought. "My name is Dietrich Lorentz, and this lovely creature next to me is Rias." Rias let her tongue hang out as if she was smiling at her introduction. He reached for the offered bottle and poured it into the glasses. "And who do I have the pleasure of sharing a drink with?" Dietrich sat back and smiled before taking a sip from the glass.

"I like you're thinking." Vance said in response to the idea that you might as well do something right. If more people thought like that then Vance would be able to fix just about any problem easily. Which was pretty much the biggest issue with Quincy and others in general. That and humanity was too good at closing its eyes to problems. He wished that wasn't a thing but knew it was pretty much futile.

"Vance Holiday, glad to know you." Vance said as his accent came back rather suddenly, which he was slightly annoyed at. Though the fact that the dog seemed more pleased at it's introduction than Deitrich's was the most odd thing he had ever seen but animals were smart sometimes. So he thought less of it. Vance missed any connotation of the other man being supernatural and same with the dog, after all without his phone, he only knew spiritual things by them attempting to flatten him to the ground. He usually used his applications to check when there was a sufficient level of reiroku or reishi collecting near him.

Vance waited for Deitrich to pour before lifting the glass between two fingers and flattening the first glass. It was something that he had picked up back home in Tombstone. You blast the first one as a show or something, his sister had taught him. After that you go back to the slow sipping. "Where you from, Mister Deitrich Lorentz?" He asked to engage his own drinking buddy. "..and what do you do?" Vance was still mainly asking to just chat.

"A pleasure." Dietrich raised his glass with a tip of his head as his guest announced himself. A slight raise of his eyebrow as Vance quickly killed off the scotch. "Westerner!" He blurted in excitement just before quickly polishing off his own glass. "I thought I caught the accent, but that was certainly the clincher." He quickly banged the glass on the table causing other bar patrons to look in his direction. He paid no attention them as Vance asked more about him.

"Oh please, Mr. Holliday. Call me Dietrich." He stated optimistically with a smug grin as he refilled the glasses. Dietrich took a big swig from his glass, briefly remembering his time in the old west before answering. "Well I was born in Germany. But it's been sometime since then. I'm currently residing in America. New York to be exact." He stated in earnest. "Currently dealing in antiquities. In fact I just came from the Musée des Confluences, where they just unveiled a loan exhibit  of the Russo Polish War." He stated before finishing off his glass and pouring himself another.

"My professions and talents allow me freedoms most humans would kill for." He stated as a matter of fact while taking another swig from his glass. "And believe me when I tell you, as extravagant as I may appear. I don't believe I'm any better than anyone in this building. I've merely had good fortune smile upon me for quite some time." He stated with a genuine smile upon his face. "And what of you good sir?" He asked with bona fide interest. "You wouldn't by chance have some ties to John Henry Holliday, would you? What brings a westerner of your caliber to this side of the pond?" He asked taking another swig from his glass.

"One of my great great grandfathers, if you can believe it. Hickok on the other side too. Guess the gunfighters decided to get together. Hence the love of whiskey and a good single action!" Vance stated as he decided to go with it. He thought about the question. "Work, same thing that usually moves people around the globe." Vance stated, sipping his second glass a little less like a gunslinger. He had already made that point.

"Fortune, is determined at birth." Vance continue, responding to Deitrich's comment about fortune. "That's what my sister says and I'm inclined to believe it." Vance pointed out as he took another sip before shrugging and noting. "Though don't get your hopes up, my ancestors were a lot better than me at a lot of things. I wasn't the bad ass in the family, I just build shit and get red taped while filing reports. Either that or shriek for help."

Vance wondered how to talk without his interrogation coming off the top, he didn't have a lot of normal conversations that weren't him berating something for being absolutely insane for whatever reason. He settled on the most basic of points. "What kind of antiquities and how antique, if you don't mind me asking."

Well color me impressed. He smiled as Vance mentioned Hickok as well. Dietrich slowed his drinking down to sip. He'd hope Vance would've joined him as did the folks from the old west had done. Though he wasn't disappointed. He chuckled at the mention of his sisters words of wisdom. "Well I imagine there's some truth to it." He inserted before Vance continued.

"You shouldn't sell yourself short. I imagine, in time, you'll hit your stride and surprise even your ancestors." He stated with genuine warmth in his voice. He could see the potential in there. He wondered if what was coming would light the spark it needed. He thought to himself as he felt a wild reiatsu not far from where they were. He took a sip before responding. "Well the majority of my collection is European Middle Ages. But I do have quite a few BC artifacts; Egyptian scrolls and small statues, Mayan pottery among some items. Some of which I've acquired through luck or a hefty price." He chuckled at the latter.

"But enough about me. What about you? Which law agency do you work for that allows you travels to exquisite places such as France?" He asked slightly distracted as he felt the reiatsu getting closer. Unwittingly letting on that he knew he was being interrogated to a point. The quick drinks of alcohol didn't help.

Vance shifted his weight as Dietrich was a bit impressed. Though the few that knew both families had been Quincy wouldn't have found the cross breeding essentially as off hand as it was. Which was interesting to Vance because it was meant to make something strong or something. Instead they got a runt like him and his sister got all the skills. To each their own, everyone was allowed to do their own thing as far as Vance was concerned. That was because he understood how to make things better than any other member of the Quincy he had met. "Unlikely I'll ever be half as good as them at anything short of getting stuck at a desk."

Vance noted listening as Dietrich mentioned pottery of Mayan decent as well as European artifacts. He thought about the large case sitting at the base of the table, which was for all intents and purposes relatively close to some European artifacts. Though it had been made of tungsten, steel and molded titanium. "I work for Interpol, special investigations. I file paperwork concerning serial killers who move across the globe, and investigate things no one can explain, like spontaneous combustion or randomly appearing claw marks next to buildings that just had their guts blown outwards. Then I usually get red-taped and laughed at. It's a pretty dead end career but it lets me move around. I don't play the politics game well, supposedly."

Vance stated, taking another sip as his glass emptied again and his phone suddenly buzzed. "Huh?" Vance, had a problem, he couldn't technically sense anything. After all, he was pretty much normal with the exception of the gadgets he had. One large failure of a Quincy in a nutshell. Vance looked at his phone and the reishi trails of something supernatural lit up the map like a rocket. It was headed towards the bar. Vance looked annoyed and gave off a word that might have been a hiss as he looked at the bottle and shrugged putting his phone back.

"Ruining a perfectly good thing." Vance said as he reached down for the large case as he stood up and nodding to Dietrich and tossing enough for the bottle and tip on the table. "Excuse me, I have a rather intrusive engagement to deal with." Vance stated politely as he reached into his jacket with his free hand and pulled out a small vial. The young man the headed outside into the slowly darkening world.

Vance drank the vial as he looked at his phone again and looked at the signature, a hollow, lame. He hoped it was a dragon or something more interesting he could threaten like a pajama samurai. Vance drank the vial as he looked up and his eyes began to glow a soft hue of blue and he looked down the street he was walking ominously towards more condensed shadows as the monster came closer. The young man unlocked the case and set it down as a large gleaming sword was lifted easily from the elongated case carrying the marks of a mariner's cross and then Vance set it over his right shoulder, holding the hilt in his off-hand and undoing his suit jacket so his dominant left hand could get at his holster.