This outfit was not overly much to Kodachi's liking. The shirt was not so bad, but the rest of the outfit had problems. The jacket looked so terribly artificial, though a true leather jacket was certainly out of the question. She may have lost much of the insane pretension she had previously held, but she still held the idea that wearing a piece of a dead animal was...disturbing. The blue jeans looked fine, but they felt like they were either trying to crush her to death, crawl into forbidden areas or both. As for the shoes...
It was clear to Kodachi's mind, after numerous giggles and comments directed her way, that high heels were not commonly worn with jeans. There were two facts that did not help. The damn things were uncomfortable as hell and only her enhanced agility and balance training let her walk normally in them.
In any case, she had reached the Daily Bugle office alive and had managed to get up to this floor. And now, on to her task.
She saw a desk standing in front of an office and recognized the presence of what had to be a secretary for someone else. She worked her way wincingly to the desk and the name plate that read "Betty Brant."
"Excuse me," Kodachi said, looking about.
"Yes?" the woman responded looking up to see the girl for a moment before turning back to her work. "May I help you?"
"Quite," Kodachi said. "Who would I speak to about photographers?"
"If you have pictures to sell," Miss Brant said idly as she typed at the computer to call up an appropriate program. "I'll arrange an appointment with Mr. Jameson to review them. So if "
"I do not think so," Kodachi said, with a but of a hmph. "I am not a photographer. I am looking for a photographer."
Miss Brant took on a long-suffering expression and closed the notepad on her computer, returning to the previous application as she looked again at the somewhat overdressed teenager in front of her.
"Listen, Miss," Brant said without pausing to get Kodachi's name. "This is a newspaper office, not an agency for photographers for hire."
"I am aware of this," Kodachi said testily. "But I understand that the Daily Bugle uses mostly freelancers, and I thought perhaps that..."
"Uh huh," Betty Brant interrupted, shaking her head. "That perhaps we give out the names of our resources so that other papers can make a bid on them?"
"Certainly not," Kodachi said with an appropriately arrogant snort. "I am merely in the process of organizing a...housewarming party at my estate in order to meet some of my neighbors and I was hoping to have the event documented."
"There are a large number of photographers listed in the," Betty paused for a moment as she picked up a certain word. "...did you say estate?"
"Yes, estate," Kodachi said. "I moved in yesterday afternoon."
"Can you give me the address?" Betty asked.
Kodachi sighed irritably and jotted something down on a piece of paper she took from a pad on Betty's desk before handing it back to her. Looking at the address, Betty recognized it immediately.
"Hmm," she said. "Would you mind sitting down for a moment, Miss...?"
"Kuno Koda...," Kodachi said, coughing as she caught her mistake. "Pardon me, I almost forgot this was the United States. Miss Kodachi Kuno."
"Right," Betty said. "Please sit down."
****
Kodachi was beginning to regret her choice of acts, because she was finding herself thoroughly roped into actually giving the implied party.
J. Jonah Jameson, it seemed, had seen a chance to make some further contacts. As such, he was willing to help her, not only with a photographer, but also with organizing and planning. Her little charade was quickly turning into a major society event and that scared her more than little.
"Now, about photographers," Kodachi said in a manner she hoped wasn't timid. "I want this to be a memorable event." It would be memorable for her if only a quarter of the people mentioned attended. "So if you..."
"We'll find you a photographer, don't worry about that," Jameson said brusquely, lighting a cigar as he spoke. "I've got just the one in mind. I need to see if he can do something other than half-random shots of lunatics in Halloween masks anyway."
"Pardon?" Kodachi said.
"Peter Parker," Jameson said. "Kid's got potential."
"I'm not sure what you mean by lunatics in Halloween masks," Kodachi said.
Jameson looked at her as if she were subnormal mentally for a moment before realizing something.
"You only came to the States yesterday, that's right," he said nodding. "Spider-Man. A freak in a mask who plays vigilante, Parker gets me pictures of him in action. You'll probably see some eventually."
"How terribly plebian," Kodachi said, affecting her old tone of disapproval. "I should hope to avoid such characters as much as possible myself. A mask wearing 'crime-fighter'? It is too much to accept."
"A girl after my own heart," Jameson laughed. "I think there's something else behind this loony, and I intend to find it."
"That sounds like a worthy cause," Kodachi agreed, standing up. "In any regard, I thank you for your help on my party. You have my number and address, and I have your number here in case I need to consult on further points."
"No problem, Miss Kuno," Jameson said. "I'm always glad to help."
Kodachi nodded as she considered that, yes, she was now to a point that she needed to actually give the party. At least it would provide her a natural way to meet this photographer, who might lead her to this other spider-person.
She bowed politely to her host and left the room, catching the amused look of the secretary.
"More than you bargained for?" Betty asked.
"Quite a bit more," Kodachi said as she walked passed uncomfortably on her heels.
She paused for a moment as she felt a tingle in her spider-sense and looked about. It was different from when she felt danger somehow. It didn't feel threatening at all, in fact. But the very fact that she couldn't identify it worried her.
Her face turned cold serious for moment as she scanned the room for any sort of threat or anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing, however, and she started to slowly walk out of the office, heading for the elevator.
Soon after stepping on the elevator, the sensation got stronger, coming to a peak and then dwindling to nothing almost as fast.
She stepped off the elevator, confused and cautious as she carefully headed for the street.
****
"What was that?" Peter wondered as he walked into the office, looking about.
"Parker!" Jameson's characteristic voice sounded out through the office. "Get in here!"
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(Posted Tue, 22 Jun 2004 21:38)
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