The More Things Change...

Participants:

trask2_icon.gif gina_icon.gif cat_icon.gif peter_icon.gif

Scene Title Things Change
Synopsis While out on the town for the night, "Gina" encounters a weary Sergei, who is about to get a startling proposition from a familiar face. All the while, though, Catherine Chesterfield observes the conversation and gets a vital piece of information, as well as an unwelcome surprise.
Date September 4, 2008

Lower East Side, Outside the Surly Wench

The Lower East side is one of the oldest neighborhoods in New York City. Starting south of East Hudson Street and west of the East River, it is also bordered by Chinatown and the East Village. Tenemant housing is very prominent here, as well as many religious structures and more than a few excellent kosher delis and bakeries. For those in search of entertainment, the Lower East is home to many bars and live music venues.


It's late at night, on the streets of the Lower East Side some of the bars are just closing, others are just getting started. One that still has it's doors open is the Surly Wench. The lights from the bar and music carries out into the street. A dark figure moves through the streets, coat collar turned up, scarf and stocking cap hiding his identity to casual observers. Sergei makes his way home after an encounter with Claire that has left him with some bruises, just wanting to get home and go to bed.

Gina is coming down the sidewalk towards the club. She's a little less strippered-out than the last time Trask saw her, though she's dressed for a party tonight. Slinky black dress, hair worn in a different style, strappy black heels, little handbag. She walks with a pronounced wiggle and sway, more than she had previously, as she heads for the bar.

Sergei spots the "party girl" he ran into in the park the other day, and if he had any question in his mind about her profession before, it's been chased away seeing her tonight. He is not only not on duty this time though, but actually under cover, so he keeps his head down and tries not to be noticed as she passes by.

The blonde moves to enter the bar. She gets to the door, and looks around while she's waiting to get in. Through sheer chance, she ends up looking right at Sergei…and then right past him, as if she doesn't recognize him.

Sergei relaxes a little bit when she doesn't seem to notice him, or know him. It's just natural that he lets his guard down for a moment, something he shouldn't be doing. He even smiles under the scarf and touches his brow as if tipping his hat to Gina, "Evening Miss" the voice has the faint touch of soviet Russia to the accent.

She smiles. "Hi there!" she says, all bright eyes and good mood, and none of the foul temper he saw last night. "You coming in?" she nods towards the bar, putting a hand on her hip.

Sergei blinks when she engages him in actual conversation, the internal wheels turning for a second to cuss himself out he then takes a short breath and says, "Nyet, heading home, it's been a long day." And apperently a long walk from Siberia based on how he is dressed.

The blonde smiles. "Oh, it's not that long. Why don't you come on in, have a drink or two?" Yes, she's actually flirting with him. Long way from a "daddy complex" insult.

Outside the busy and musical Surly Wench is the Saucy Wench Gina and a man in all black, scarf covering his face. Sergei shakes his head to Gina, "Sorry miss, not up for partying, besides my pocket book couldn't afford the likes of you…" yes it actually comes out before he can catch himself.

The blonde pouts a little at the decline to her offer. And then laughs at the second part. "I'm not talking about anything past getting a couple drinks together. You can buy a girl a drink, can't you?"

Two hours past midnight. As the club door opens, and the volume of canned music from inside the place gets louder in that brief instant, a five foot eight inch woman in her late twenties steps outside. She's taking a slight break from being inside there. Heeled boots tap across the pavement as Cat walks a bit away and lets her eyes wander. One hand extracts a book from her back pocket.

Sergei shakes his head, "No time for that,… I should go…I'm sure you'll find plenty of company inside."

"Not so fast, Boris." A Rocky & Bulwinkle joke, classy. "We've gotta talk." From around the corner of the club, steps a familiar looking man in black. With his hands resting in his pockets, he walks with a determined swagger. But he halts his movement a fair distance away from the scarf-laden man and his leggy cohort. But the moment Peter's eyes focus on the tall blonde, his expression changes and his eyes narrow. "You." Peter tenses, squaring his shoulders as he catches another familiar face out of the corner of his vision, the musician from the night before. He winced, visibly, that wasn't what he was hoping for.

Except that she shows no signs of recognizing him from the other night. She smiles back to look at Peter. "Hi there." Sergei seems to be second place now that there's someone -else- to prospectively party with, and her attention shifts to Peter. She takes another step or two his way. "Heading to the club?" She asks, winning smile on her lips.

The book is held in hand, she was about to open the thing and start reading some of it, but the voices nearby change that plan. Cat's eyes shift over toward the man she dubbed Rock, then to the pair he's addressing. She doesn't speak, makes no move to draw attention on herself. The woman simply watches. Rock's business with Scarfy is intriguing, and the woman from the night before who seemed to spook Rock so much… Oh, yes, she'll watch and listen.

Sergei says, "Raskolnikov" Sergei says it like a curse word almost under his breath, a little louder he says, "You are maybe looking for Moose and Squirill?" He starts making calculations for the quickest escape route from Mr. Sewerman over there."

Peter's brow furrows, creasing his scar further as he addresses the leggy woman, "…No." His focus shifts past the tall blonde over to Sergei, "I need to talk to your boss, whoever's in charge of things." His eyes dart over to the blonde at his side, then back, "Is Natasha here with you?" Peter was trying to play it smart this time, keeping his distance from Sergei. From the looks of Peter, though, he seemed worse-off than he was the last time the pair had met — he was exhausted looking, dark circles beneath his eyes even more prominent. It looks like he hasn't slept in days.

Gina looks decidedly put out. Two guys here and neither -one- is putting attention on her. She hasn't noticed Cat yet, as she's beeing quiet and all. But she looks back to Peter. "Well, you -should-!" Her tone is half insistent, half pouting. She reaches out towards his arm. "C'mon. Come have a drink and a dance."

With no one's attention upon her, Cat takes advantage of the situation by observing and mulling over the situation at hand, as to what business the two men might have with each other, and the nature of the blonde who seems different than the night before. This is chalked up to simply her being in a different mood.

Sergei says, "I thought you wanted nothing to do with us" he stops looking around, "This isn't the place to talk…You got a number? I can have him give you a call?""

Peter wasn't expecting 'Natasha' to break into a long stride and clear the distance between the two, and when her hands were on his arm, his eyes widen in surprise. His muscles tense as he catches the scent of her perfume, looks her in the eye, hen turns back to Sergei, "Things change." He looks from side to side, "I don't use phones…" He eyes the woman on his arm, then Sergei again. "Tell me where to look, or I'll find out on my own." Peter's eyes drifted back to the woman at his side, a curious expression crossing his face as he looked up to her again, that strange look of recognition and confusion that kept drawing him to her. "210 Central Park West, tomorrow, up where Helena met me. He can come alone, he can bring whoever he wants. Doesn't matter to me, but he and I need to talk." He states, looking back at Sergei as he did, "Nevermind looking for him, he can come to me."

Peter looks back to the tall blonde, "Do… I know you?" He asks under his breath, not having tried to urge her away, still trying to puzzle out what significance her face plays into things, and why she seems to be around at all the opportune times. He had entirely forgotten about Cat, much to her fortune it would seem, as she was unintentionally given a piece of information not intended for her, and one that she — more so than most — would remember.

Gina looks back. "Never seen you before." She smiles winningly at Peter…and what's more, he's clearly aware she -has-…she was looking right at him when he vanished the other night. "But we can fix that. I'm Gina. Tell me your name, and then we know each other." She's clearly flirting with him.

Information. She just soaks it up like a sponge, one which never loses a single detail. Cat keeps her position, quite pleased to not have caught anyone's notice. 210 Central Park West. Helena. Gina. Identical twin of the surly wench? Curious.

Sergei nods, "Dah, I will let him know, I won't promise he will show up though." He looks a little nervous scanning the area for any one else watching from the shadows.

Peter's expression shifts from confused to awkwardly startled at Gina's invitation, "Ah, no thanks… I don't have the kind've cash for that." Seems everyone made the wrong interpretation of her tonight. "Look," He focused back on Sergei, "Make sure Cam' shows up, tell him all I want to do is talk. Something came up, and things changed." Peter extricates his arm from the blonde at his side, flashing her an apologetic smile before turning back to the Russian, "If he doesn't show up, I'll come looking for him myself." He waits there, watching Sergei closely.

Another pout. "God, it should NOT be this hard to find someone to have a drink with tonight." She turns, as if to flounce off into the club…and then pauses, checking her reflection in the plate glass window with odd intent.

Gina occupies Cat's attention in the moment she heads for the club and checks her reflection so oddly. Her thoughts drift. The night before she'd seem angrier, the way that man near her cried out and was on the floor. And now she seems like a teenager. Replaying the memory of Jessica and Gina's behavior for comparison confirms the difference. Identical twins are still possible. Arrested development, perhaps. Teen stuck in a thirtysomething body. The contemplation takes place across ten seconds or so, then her focus goes back to the men.

Sergei backs away from Peter, almost bumping into Cat as he does, before catching himself a good arms length away from her, "I'll let him know, but be careful about the threats, he doesn't have the sunny disposition I do, Comrade." He grins behind the scarf, letting his voice take on a joking tone.

"I'll keep that in mind." Peter intones, watching Sergei depart. The scarred man narrows his eyes and looks to the side, watching a few cars pass, and then turns to watch Gina walk back over to the window. His focus lingers on her for a short time, and then he begins to turn away, rolling his shoulders in a shrug as he does. He can't figure out the connection — not yet anyway — and there were more people and more important things to do before all was said and done. As he gets a few steps away from the bar, the air around his body ripples for a moment, and then he is simply gone — Nothing but the sidewalk and steam coming out of a manhole where he was standing.

Gina looks at the mirror, petulantly. "I don't care." she says, quietly and under her breath. "You're going to be busy for days, so I get to have some fun now." Seeming to have made up her mind, she tugs out her ID, and heads for the club door.

Seeing the man approaching and perhaps about to bump into her, Cat sidesteps to avoid the collision, but in so doing she's distracted from watching the other two. She misses Rock's disappearing act and Gina's conversation with the reflection. And Scarfy is now so close, having come inside a ten foot space. Her eyes look around, see Peter gone, and Gina heading for the entrance, then come back to the Russian. Things get fuzzy in his proximity. She tries to pull up and review details, but… it's not working like it should. Suddenly her memory is no more effective than most people's, and this causes a strangely confused expression to form.

Sergei 's Russian accent is thick as he apologizes to Cat for almost running her over, then he takes off down the street the oher way at a decent clip, leaving her behind to regain her senses.

Still looking confused, the brunette nods distractedly to the Russian as he makes the apology and heads off. Cat's still trying to call up details and finding some missing while he's nearby. Once he's gone, the instant he passes beyond that ten foot zone, things start to work again. Things witnessed before the encounter are present and available in full detail, but… she can't be sure what the man said as he passed by. And did Gina pull out an ID before she headed toward the door, or did she just go inside without one? Things that happened when he was close lack the normal detail. She stares after the man. Did he do something to her, somehow?

Some minutes pass before Cat goes back inside, collects her gear, and heads home.


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September 3rd: The Terrible Crime of Cameron-Crushing

Previously in this storyline…
The Terrible Crime of Cameron-Crushing


Next in this storyline…
A Change in the Air

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September 4th: Is This Thing On?
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