Sleep Well in Seattle
Xáays, as a handsome elf, has spent his fair share of time at upscale hotels and fancy black-tie parties. Even by his lofty standards, the Pan Pacific Hotel is nice. It feels like his environment. His treatment is Right and Proper, as a shadow operative of his caliber.
The tailored clothing is unexpected but, in retrospect, also fitting. Fitting, ha. Xáays spends the morning of the first day at the hotel's gym (jogging, lifting weights, swimming in the pool), then straight to the spa to work out the kinks and blemishes that accumulated in his safehouse jail cell. Once he's been properly pampered, massaged, and fed, his new clothes are ready. Time to explore the hotel and then see the city.
Xáays has had a love/hate fascination with Seattle for a long time, particularly its reputation as the Shadowrunning Capitol of the World. Now that he's here, he doesn't intend to leave any time soon. He spends his time at the hotel studying the other guests, wondering which of them might be his fellow runners. They'd be from other places, like himself. He turns his ear toward accents, looking for people with freshly tailored fashions who might not know how to act in these surroundings.
The afternoon of Day One is for some of the tourist fun. Pike Place Market, the Seattle Art Museum, walking along the waterfront. What do Salish lands look like from Seattle? Beautiful, with blue water in the foreground, green trees on the other side, and white-capped mountains reaching above it all. There's an elven district around the south end of Lake Union where he finds the elaishón that he wanted. In the evening, he has the choice of a Sonics game or the symphony. He opts for the symphony, remembering the comfort of classical music when he had been in the safehouse.
The next day he starts scouting out neighborhoods, looking for where to establish himself after the week in the hotel is up. He's thinking two spots, one high and one low. One for his reputable self, one for his disreputable self, even though the two often blur together. Xáays thinks of himself as a lovable scoundrel; the trick is staying on the right side of the law, even when you are clearly well past that point.
He wants to be centrally located and close to the action; the means near downtown Seattle or maybe Bellevue. Capitol Hill is nice, but awfully close to the Aztechnology Pyramid... Queen Anne? That's an option. Mt Baker could set him up with a nice view of Council Island, a pleasant reminder of home. South Lake Union would make sense, given all the elves. Then there are the options in Bellevue, which has the added benefit of being near the Bellevue Poor House...
Xáays is less interested in Tuesday night Sloppy Soy Wrestling but Friday Night Fights is tempting indeed... The Johnson - a stubby little fellow by the sound of his voice - had asked Xáays to limit his trips outside the hotel and to establish himself as a reputable visitor. He had already done that, had he not? And now could he not - perhaps using one of his other SINs - slip away to the fights to see what the Cascade Orks could do? Xáays didn't want to jeopardize this opportunity, but nor did he want a bitter little halfer to boss him around when there was entertainment to be had within easy reach. Xáays wouldn't participate, oh no ... (well, not this week at least) ... but didn't the Johnson say that sporting events were acceptable? And what was fighting except the ultimate sporting event, the perfect expression of athletic superiority? And the Johnson did say to "have fun"...
Xáays pulls on a Seattle Screamers jersey (his second-favorite team behind the Tir Tornadoes) over his armor vest, slips out of the hotel, changes his identity to Ashkii Dighin, and hails a cab for a ride over the bridge to Bellevue...