http://notapreacher.livejournal.com/ (
notapreacher.livejournal.com) wrote in
tampered2008-06-19 02:04 pm
Log: Completed
When; Thursday around 1
Rating; G
Characters; Abby Sciuto (
caf_pow_girl) and Gren Eckener (
notapreacher)
Summary; It's only lunch and that is all...
Log;
The first time he saw this fountain was the first time he was here in the City, although he didn't pay it much attention at the time. As a rule he likes it outside better than inside; he prefers the fountain to the carousel; he's glad he's working because it means he can afford to take someone out to lunch; he has no idea what Abby looks like. That was the one crucial piece of information he forgot to get from her while they were chatting. He couldn't even use his standard you'll recognize me; I'll be the one with the saxophone around his neck line because... he doesn't carry it everywhere.
Only when he's going to a gig... or thinking there might be trouble. That case has made a weapon more than once. Today he sits by the edge of the fountain, his face turned up to the sunshine. It's one of the things he missed on Callisto, and with all that snow and being so far away from the light, this seems like a little bit of a luxury. It's already a much better day than yesterday, even if he doesn't know who to look for. If this lunch is meant to happen, it will. And if it isn't... he can just say he's been working on his tan.
Rating; G
Characters; Abby Sciuto (
Summary; It's only lunch and that is all...
Log;
The first time he saw this fountain was the first time he was here in the City, although he didn't pay it much attention at the time. As a rule he likes it outside better than inside; he prefers the fountain to the carousel; he's glad he's working because it means he can afford to take someone out to lunch; he has no idea what Abby looks like. That was the one crucial piece of information he forgot to get from her while they were chatting. He couldn't even use his standard you'll recognize me; I'll be the one with the saxophone around his neck line because... he doesn't carry it everywhere.
Only when he's going to a gig... or thinking there might be trouble. That case has made a weapon more than once. Today he sits by the edge of the fountain, his face turned up to the sunshine. It's one of the things he missed on Callisto, and with all that snow and being so far away from the light, this seems like a little bit of a luxury. It's already a much better day than yesterday, even if he doesn't know who to look for. If this lunch is meant to happen, it will. And if it isn't... he can just say he's been working on his tan.

no subject
Looking around, she sees someone with his face turned to the sun. Well, that could be him. Or it could be someone else. Only way to find out is to ask.
She walks over with smile and tilts her head to the side. "You're Gren right? Because if you aren't I'll go ahead and leave you alone. But I'm supposed to meet him here."
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Today, he can touch; he extends his hand to her. "I'm Gren, and I have to ask you if you're in the habit of being a lifeline to strangers. Because I really needed that last night."
Life, he knows, is too short and precious to waste time. Even if the whole concept of alive doesn't really apply to him here, he's not sold on being dead despite what Julia told him and despite what he remembers from the moments before he got to the City for the first time. Anyway, what does it matter? He's here and breathing and walking around and sentient, as far as he can tell, and the big philosophical questions on the nature of life and death and life after death will have to wait till another day. Right now he has to figure out what he's going to do with a woman -- a stranger at that -- for the duration of lunch.
It's not exactly how he normally spends his time.
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She smiles in an oblivious manner. Truthfully, she's smarter and more observant that she appears but she's just happy to have been a help last night. "I guess it's a good thing I accidentally hacked you then." Without a break in between she immediately continued. "Does the cafe work for you? They have good food there. Jack took me to the place when I first arrived here. Usually I have lunch at the hub but I do go there sometimes."
Having lunch with people isn't something she normally gets to do very often in her world. On a normal day she's down in her lab and away from people. Except for Gibbs and the others coming to visit her. All of this free time is strange.
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But just one. And then all those years spent working in bars and making small talk pile back in with a vengeance: he can keep up a conversation with anybody about almost anything. The whole getting-to-know-you dance isn't something he's spent much time on the past three years, but he remembers how it goes well enough.
"So two quick questions. First, have you been here long? And second, what do you do here?" It's pretty obvious she's better at hacking into the system than he is. If she's really good at it, he might have a few more technical questions for her.
Not yet, though. First things first.
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"About a month and a half." A nod of confirmation then she continues to the next question. "And I'm a Forensic Specialist."
One of the best too. She usually doesn't bring that up right away though. Even if it is a true fact.
She looks ahead of them as she explains. "For the police force here anyways. At home I focus on military crimes with NCIS. I'm not military though. Just civilian."
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"We've been here about the same amount of time." That's a little bit of a neat coincidence. "So is there a lot of work for a forensics expert around here?" He actually has no idea: he's been pretty happily oblivious about the inner workings of the city so far and he really doesn't mind staying that way. Back on Callisto, where he was wanted by the ISSP, he had to keep careful track of that kind of stuff. Blue Crow was a haven for bounties, but it could have changed at any minute. And if the economics of the planet were already bad, it would have gotten so much worse if everyone featured on Big Shot suddenly had to scatter for other parts of the solar system.
Of course, it's all a little irrelevant now.
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She pauses for a moment. "I'm not the one who makes arrests though. I just analyze evidence brought to me. Fragments...DNA...fingerprints...things like that. Sometimes blood splatters too. Depends on what I need to help solve."
Her stops in front of the cafe and looks around. "Inside or outside?"
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When they're outside, he can keep an eye on the streets. There's nothing like having a person follow you to make you a little jumpy, but multiply it by two and it just becomes such a weird turn of events. He's not even sure if the second one is really true or not... but he knows Vicious is -- or was -- keeping tabs on him. He's not sure why unless maybe it's some twisted retribution for losing his man. That would make sense.
But Vicious doesn't make sense and never has, and he's also not here now. He hands Abby a menu, takes his own, but doesn't even glance at it yet. "I don't want to make too many assumptions, but it seems like this place has an old comfortable feel to it for you." It's in her casual demeanor, in the friendly way she smiles and waves to people. He's sociable, but he's not that outgoing. "Did you just find yourself here one day?"
It wouldn't be entirely surprising. Not everyone here is dead like him and Julia. Lin. Vicious. Luke. Who's he missing?
no subject
Looking up she is still smiling. "I just felt like smiling to the people. At home, I'm usually in my lab so I don't get to see a lot of others. Unless I'm dating. Then on my days off I see more." She shrugs like it's the simplest thing in the world to think about.
She looks down at the menu again at picks something. And water here. This place didn't serve Caf-Pow!. Though, maybe she could suggest it sometime. Reki liked it for one.
"I don't really know any of those people. But it was nice to see them."
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"I might have seen some of them at the club where I work, but a lot of people come and go there." It's a lucky thing he wasn't scheduled to work last night, although his arrangement with Ishiah had a big curses accounted for rider tacked onto it: he's known his boss to be affected by curses too and he's glad it's random and impersonal. Still, he hopes it never, ever happens to him again.
After Abby makes her selection he orders himself a sandwich and a cup of tea. Iced, because they're in the sun and there was no such beast as iced tea on Callisto and so it will be a luxury. And it's also time to get one or two things out in the open. "I'm glad you're here with me today, because I was a little crazy last night. I should have told you when we agreed to this that I don't... consider it a date or anything; women aren't my style. But I really want to treat you to lunch this afternoon. It's the least I can do repay your kindness."
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She leans forward, curiosity written all over her face. Club where he works. That's what he'd said.
"Which club do you work at? And what do you do there?" He seems to be a calm person. And it doesn't bother her at all that women aren't his style. He definitely isn't the first person she's met who's like that. It does make her curious about something else though. And she decides to go ahead and ask about that too. "Is there a guy you have your eye on?"
no subject
"No, no, I don't have my eye on anybody." Really, men aren't his style either, but that's all self-imposed anyway and it's his own business alone. "I work at Lux, do you know it? The club with the striped awning in front? I'm a musician: tenor sax. I'm in Blue's house band there, and I play solo jazz sets on Saturday nights."
And no matter what, he's chivalrous enough -- and still man enough -- to pay for lunch.
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Her smile stays in place as she nods. "I haven't been there on Saturday's though. I will this Saturday to see you play. You are going to, right? I mean, it would be kinda bad to go and not see you there."
Jazz is actually not her preferred style of music but she didn't mind it. Besides, she had friends...because she already considered Gren one too...who played it. So why not go listen some times?
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The line of thought's interrupted by the arrival of their food and he's suddenly pretty hungry. Faye's not as bad a cook as he feared -- it's hard to ruin pasta -- but he barely remembers eating last night. That curse was terrible. The iced tea looks like a million woolongs to him and he squeezes lemon into it and takes a sip, savors it. "I was born and grew up on Mars, and this was one of my favorite drinks. The past few years -- the place I've been living -- it was impossible to get. It's really nice to have it again. But yeah, to get back to music, I'll be there. I don't think there's a whole lot that could keep me away."
Short of being killed all over again, that is.
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She takes a sip of her water wishing it was her favorite soda. That tastes much better. And it had the caffeine she wants. However, she does need to sleep tonight since she hasn't slept the past two nights. She didn't need a third night added to that. Tony would be upset with her if that happened. Jack, Ianto, and Tosh too. Well, lots of people here would be upset with here. Maybe Christian as well. She didn't know him well enough yet to know.
"What's it like there?"
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They say Mars is for the rich. He's always felt privileged that his family had money when he lived there and he really doesn't think it turned him into a spoiled brat. At any rate, he was able to survive on Callisto on next to nothing, so he must have learned a few things about getting along in life.
He helps himself to a bite of sandwich, thinking it's much better to be sitting here eating than it is to be sitting here watching someone else eat. Pride: it wouldn't allow him to let Faye buy him anything that night. It's a stubborn and curious thing, pride. He was newly dead, new to being here, hungry, and so grateful to see a familiar face.
no subject
"Have you always done music?" This is her next question after he's finished telling her about Mars. And saying that was living on Callisto. What she really wants to hear is him telling her about something he seems to love so much. Like Tony and his movies. Besides, it helps her to get to know him better. He's already really interesting too. She'd have to keep talking with him in the future.
Continuing to eat, she watches him. He's really very nice. And easy to get along with. She's always liked that about people. Though, not everyone has both traits.
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Seeing that sax was like finding unexpected true love.
"Of course, I was terrible with it at first. But I got better. Started out on alto and graduated to tenor about five years later. It takes a different kind of lung capacity and..." He stops himself, shakes his head. "It's pretty much the great love of my life, music. I could talk about it for days."
no subject
"I don't mind you going on about it like that. I like listening to you talk about the sax and music. Because you so obviously love it even before telling me you do." She takes a drink of water. "That's really nice. It's like the stories you here about great musicians who can describe music in a way no one else can. I like that."
She smiles at him and takes another bite. The sandwich is pretty good. It's something new compared to what she usually gets.
no subject
It doesn't seem like much of a girl sort of occupation, but he really has no idea. Just because women have tended to show him more kindness than men for a large part of his life doesn't mean he really knows very much about them at all.
no subject
Another pause as she drinks more of her water. "You have to be one of the best to be hired by the military as a civilian. And I am. There are only a few people in the world who can commit a crime and leave absolutely no forensic evidence behind. I'm one of them. Of course, I would never actually commit a crime where that was necessary but I can do it."
The further she gets into it, the more her hands get involved. Like she's trying to have him picture everything and is trying to show him.
no subject
It's fascinating.
"You love what you do as much as I love what I do. That's a pretty neat coincidence." He nods a refill on his iced tea. "I saw a show once on a forensic sculptor who literally rebuilt faces so the ISSP -- that's what we call the police force where I'm from -- would have a visual on the victims. It was really pretty amazing."
He wouldn't have the patience for it -- he isn't the one who loves poring over puzzles for endless hours -- but he can see how intriguing it could be to the right person.
"So if I ever need to commit the perfect crime, I know who to come to for help." But he laughs -- of course he's just joking; his criminal days are over if they were even there to begin with -- and digs in his pocket for the right number and color of coins to cover their bill when it comes up. He won't be taking no for an answer on that one.
no subject
"A forensic sculptor huh? I usually use a computer. I even updated the latest program out so I can have better pictures. Once, I hypnotized someone in order to get an image from a memory he had. But I have made sculptures of things before."
Her eyes suddenly blink as if she finally caught up with what else he'd said. Then she laughs since she can see he's joking. She hopes he's joking. He had better be joking. No...she decides then and there that it's definitely a joke.
"You know, committing the perfect crime is almost impossible. There are so many variables to look out for. Like splatters of anything can tell you what happened or what kind of a weapon was used."
no subject
He's a very tactile person himself; lots of musicians are. He gestures to the plates on the table. "Last night, I couldn't have imagined I'd feel so normal today. I'm really not a big fan of the curses, but that was the worst I've been hit. I think I really need to learn how to make things more unhackable. I never had to bother before this place."
This lunch really has been an unexpected pleasure. "But then if I had, I wouldn't have met you. And that would have been really sad."
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"See? It wasn't all so bad. Well, it was but it came out okay in the end. That's saying something." She is still talking with her hands. The excitement hasn't really left her and she's just tired enough to not really notice it. "But I'm glad you don't want to commit any crimes. Really. You know, you're too nice of a person for that."
Her eyes catch sight of her hands and she looks at them like she's baffled as to how they got up there. But she doesn't put them down. Instead she just shrugs and starts talking again. "You know something else, Gren? I like you. Not in the whole having feelings for you or anything like that. I mean, you're not into women...which I don't mind at all by the way...but I just thought you should know. People like knowing when others like them after all."
no subject
He knows he's not perfect. He also knows he likes women just fine, but if it keeps people a little at bay to tell them women aren't his style, he'll keep doing it. There's one woman in this city he's extremely close to on a platonic level, and another he'd like to know better. That tally is two more than he's had the past three years when neither of them were around, and it feels like more than enough. He's not looking for a lot more friends and he's certainly not looking for love.
No, he has his music if he wants pure love.
Still, Abby's refreshing honesty makes him smile. "Thanks, Abby. I like you a lot. You're... a deceptively passionate woman and that's really attractive." He doesn't mean it in any sort of sexual way; he just likes the way she is. She seems very at home with herself. "So we should do this again sometime. Or at least come by the club and hang out for a while."
Women are just easier for him now. He hasn't met that many men here, but a lot of the ones he has met have made him pretty suspicious. He's not just some pretty face for them to... seduce.
no subject
"Thank you. And yes. We really should this again. But I'll make sure to come to the club on Saturday. That way I can hear you play. I'm looking forward to it. Just need to make sure I tell someone. People seem to worry about me here more than they did at home. Or I could just be noticing it more now."
She seems sad for a moment as memories of the Director come to her. Really, she's noticing things like this more since her breakdown. That she has friends who really care about her. She's always known they did but...Why did a death make you appreciate things more? The sadness vanishes as she covers it up with a smile since she's really just fine.
"I'll make sure to get a good seat when I get there. I wouldn't want someone to block me or anything like that."
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As he stands and sets the money down on the table, he's still smiling. "I'll reserve a table for you. You want to sit up front?" Sure, there are perks that go along with working at the place. Personally, he can't see why anyone would really pay to get in to hear him play. It's not a question of low self-esteem -- he knows he's good -- but he would literally play on request, on the street corner, for nothing. "I'll just warn you: if you sit too close, you might get sick of me really fast."
That makes him laugh, though, and he moves to the other side of the table to help pull out Abby's chair. Women might not be his style, but politeness is and almost always has been.
no subject
"Really? Thank you, Gren! But I won't get sick of you. At least, I don't think I will. Maybe I'll become a fan of yours." She stands and is grinning now. He has a nice laugh. A nice smile too.
She ignores the money on the table. Even she knows when she won't win a fight if one gets started. Besides, she can always try to pay the next time. Or try to anyways. She's stubborn but sometimes there is just no winning things like that. No matter what.
"What time do you go on?"
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If things were always this easy, life would be a whole lot simpler. They're not, but he'll take them where he can get them. "Bring friends, too." Just so that's perfectly clear. "And I'll look for you. Now do you want me to walk you back to the fountain or anywhere else from here?"
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"Let's walk back to the fountain. Then I can wait for Christian there. Oh, and I'll try to bring my roommates with me. Maybe I can get Tony to come. I guess I should ask him. But I think I can at least get Christian and possibly Ianto to go."
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Also perfect is the fact that this whole time, there hasn't been any visible sign of Vicious, and that's a relief. As they walk, he offers Abby his arm and doesn't mean anything by it. These days, he's not a very touchy-feely guy -- he won't hug just anybody, for instance -- although he used to be a lot less cautious. In a way, this is a test for him: has that curse from yesterday really worn off?
At the very least, he's being... chivalrous. And she does have him pegged as a gentleman and whether or not that's true, it makes him smile. Abby's good company.
no subject
A smile flashes at him. "It's fun." She isn't used to describing something so simplistically but it works. This is just that. Fun.
Then she studies him for a couple moments. "You should smile more, Gren. You have a really nice smile. It's kind of, I don't know...gentle. Not quite but the word works."
no subject
...dead.
Usually.
"Look, we could be our own little mutual admiration society here. But you'd better stop before my ego gets overinflated." Of course, that makes him smile even more; he pats her hand as they get closer to the fountain.
And he realizes then he's all right: that curse doesn't seem to have had the lasting damage he feared yesterday. It could be that it'll sneak back up on him when he least expects it, but at least now -- here, in public, with people -- he's okay.
"All right. I'll try to remember to smile more. But don't expect it Saturday: it's a little hard to smile and still coax the sweet notes out of a saxophone."
no subject
She notices the fountain and frowns at it. She is enjoying this and the fountain means it's basically done. There is Saturday though. And talking to him more often. She intends to make sure she does more of that. "I know! You could smile before and after pieces!"
This time she looks up at him with a bright look. To her the idea is brilliant. And then people will get to see him smile. She could even show the others that she is thinking of bringing what it looks like. "Then you don't have to worry about smiling while playing."
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"And thanks for taking the time to have lunch with me. I'll see you at the club on Saturday night."
He's still amused as he starts to move away. And he makes it all of about five paces away before he turns and looks back and gives her a little wave.
And then he is on his way: he's working tonight and has to get ready. But he's already feeling so much better than he did twenty-four hours ago... and looking forward to Saturday.
no subject
And she goes over to sit on the edge of the fountain to wait for Christian...
[ooc: The End~ *squeals from loving the thread~*]