A Number of Commonalities

Participants:

elisabeth_icon.gif griffin_icon.gif

Scene Title A Number of Commonalities
Synopsis Griffin and Elisabeth come to find that they have more in common than they would expect.
Date March 04, 2011

The Nite Owl

The Nite Owl is a survivor from ages past - one of those ancient diners with huge plate glass windows, checkerboard linoleum floor, and a neon owl over the entrance that blinks at those entering. Inside, there's an L-shaped main counter, complete with vintage soda fountain and worn steel stools. All of the cooking is done on the ranges ranked against the rear wall. The outer wall is lined with booths upholstered in cracked scarlet vinyl, tables trimmed with polished chrome. Despite its age, it's been lovingly maintained. The air is redolent with the scent of fresh coffee, vanilla, and frying food.


It was barely noon when Griffin called Elisabeth. He really had no clue why he was calling her, and he stated as much, but he requested a nice, quiet advice session with the woman. There's hardly anyone here, and the smells from breakfast have yet to dissipate from the air, the restaurant smelling of fresh pancakes and bacon and maple syrup. It's a good, relaxing atmosphere for Griffin Mihangle.

Lord knows he needs relaxing right now.

The lanky fellow is seated in a corner booth, facing both the entrance and exit doors. A cup of coffee is steaming before him, and he's quietly pushing at his own breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon, not really eating it. He's mostly trying to decide if he has an appetite or not. It's hard to tell.

She's clearly well known in here. As Elisabeth steps in the front door, the woman manning the main counter looks up and merely quirks a brow. "Eating or just coffee?"

The blonde's grin is weary but easy with the woman. "How about…. one of those breakfast sandwiches Tom's so good at?" she asks.

The order's taken, coffee handed over to her right at the counter, and Elisabeth is heading for the booth that Griffin's taken up. She noted his presence immediately. Sliding into the seat across from him, she doctors her drink with unholy amounts of sugar and a dollop of the creamer. The sounds around them dim and her blue eyes on the man are still a hint wary. He is, after all, wanted — and if she gets nailed here with him, it's a big problem. "What's up?

Griffin notices Liz the moment she walks in. He's opted for more casual wear today, jeans and a hoodie for the sunny weather. While she's getting her order, he simply sits, poking at his fried eggs with a fork, peeling the egg white away from the yolk almost expertly, without disturbing the fluid within. When she sits, however, his gaze raises to her, brows raising.

"I know it's…kind of odd, for me to be calling you up. Especially for personal advice. But…I don't know, you seem safe to me." He mumbles this out toward her, finally raising his coffee cup and sipping down some of the hot liquid. Then, he sets the mug back down, staring at it as he collects his thoughts on the subject at hand. Is he seriously about to tell a near-stranger all about his personal life? One in the government?

She seems to be safe, though…and any friend of Cardinal's is a friend of his. For the most part. "I just found out some…extremely big news a few hours ago." The man lifts a hand, rubbing at his forehead, before he finally looks back up to Liz. "My fiancee…she's…expecting a child." He still sounds surprised by this revelation, himself.

There are many things she might have speculated that he wanted. Personal advice from her was not on the list. Elisabeth's expression takes on a bit of a bemused expression. She sips her coffee and as he tells her that, she's still watching him closely. She swallows the drink and quirks a brow. "Based on the way you said that, I'm not sure whether to say congratulations or I'm sorry," she tells him calmly. Something in the water? Christ… the hardcore save-the-world guys are knocking up women. And they seem shocked! Do they not know that when the apocalypse is nigh it's not TIME to forget rubbers??

"It's…a bit of a congratulations thing, I think." Griffin turns his gaze down to his food. Maybe he has enough of an appetite for the bacon. "It was just…extremely unexpected." He takes a bite of the bacon, chewing on it thoughtfully. "We were talking about it, we just didn't think that it would happen so soon." He shrugs.

Then, he falls quiet for a long moment, looking toward the front door distractedly. "I'm a wanted man…I have Colonel Leon Heller hot on my tail. He killed my sister to get to me." The man shakes his head slowly, falling quiet for a moment. Then, green eyes turn toward Liz, the man frowning. "I'm scared for my fiancee. For my child. For my family. I don't care what they do to me…but I'm so terrified that the mistakes I have made in the past will come back to haunt them. Lord knows my son has felt the sting of my past…"

Yeah. She can totally understand that. Hell… All Elisabeth can really do is give him the same advice that Cardinal has to live with right now. "Tell her to keep it very low profile and never talk about whose child it is. Your friends will know but no one else needs to. At all," she says quietly. "She knows the risks you're both under in this. If she's smart, she'll make it work." Her tone is… perhaps not as comforting as it could be. The situation is too close to a more raw one for her to really be as easy with it as she is trying to appear. "If you need help getting her underground…. you've got people to turn to." She grimaces. "Hell, go talk to Richard. I'm sure he'll have some ideas." That comment's a bit on the bitter side and she clenches her jaw tightly, falling silent as her bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich shows up. A simple nod of thanks is given to the waitress, who heads off quickly.

Griffin nods slowly, frowning down at his food. That is…good advice. Advice he'll definitely take to heart. "Thank you." He closes his eyes for a moment, taking a breath. "And thank you for coming out here. I know that you and I kind of got off on the wrong foot, and that I'm not the most savory type to be meeting in public. So…thank you." He offers a tight, strained smile.

Then, he turns those intense green eyes of his up toward the ceiling. "I wish there was a way to get rid of my record…" He mumbles this out, frowning, before his eyes turn down toward the table once more. "To ensure my family's safety."

Getting off on the wrong foot? That's a bit of an understatement. "To be quite blunt, I haven't decided exactly where you fall on my radar right now," Elisabeth informs him. "Being on Heller's shit list and having been the target of specific issues with him? That…. concerns me. Especially with recent intel in our hands. The entire fucking squad over there is doing Humanis First's dirty work." She shakes her head. "Pretty sure they don't even have a clue." Because what fool fucking Evo would do that willingly? "But besides that… I don't know you well enough to draw conclusions."

"Well, thank you all the same." Griffin doesn't seem to take issue with the fact that she hasn't figured out where he falls on the radar. He pokes at his breakfast quietly. "I'm just…a man. A man who has found his way into far too many bad situations." He shakes his head slowly, frowning down at his plate. Then, he decides to tell Liz about himself.

"Played basketball all through high school, and I even had a scholarship. I was well on my way to the NBA, really, until I tore my ACL really badly. It's never really healed right." Green eyes turn to peer at Liz. "After that, I went into music, instead, got a degree. I'm technically a composer and a music instructor. I was aiming to teach college music."

His face changes, to one of grief. "Manifested eleven years ago in April, during a fight with my wife, the mother of my son, Owain. When she told me that she wanted a divorce…my ability ripped her to shreds before I could do anything to stop it. To stop myself." He closes his eyes. "I waited there, holding my son, until the cops came and took me away. I confessed. Then, the government came and took me from there…I don't remember much. Concussion from a fight, apparently. But…I spent ten years in prison, until Moab happened."

Elisabeth is startled enough to hear the music part of this to pause mid-bite to look at him. But the rest brings a wince. She sets her sandwich down instead of eating it, wrapping her hands around her cup. "I don't know when I first manifested," she admits quietly. "It was somewhere around 9/11, I think. There's a chunk of my life missing, but my first clear memory is hearing heartbeats in some rubble that I was searching through in the aftermath on the periphery."

The man blinks, before smiling softly. "It's good that your manifestation wasn't so bad, then." He noticed the look she offered him at the mention of the music, and a faint smile is offered to Liz. "I play several instruments, if you're interested. Piano, Violin, Cello, Guitar, Bass, Drums…I'm not so fond of my voice, personally, but." He shrugs. "I can play a few at once, as well, thanks to my ability." Technically, Griffin is what you could call a musical genius, though he does his best to play that down just a little.

Her smile is a little bitter. "I don't know if if it was bad — I said the first thing I remembered was that. I didn't say that was the first instance. Humanis First blew my head off and obliterated a bit of brain matter. So my first manifestation could have been anywhere in a ten-year span, and could have been catastrophic for all I know," Elisabeth informs him. "After Midtown, I took a hiatus from the PD, though — I was a substitute teacher at Washington Irving High. I have a minor in music that I was using to get certified to teach full time. Until the Vanguard." And that's how she wound up on the convoluted path that led…. here.

A frown is offered to Liz, Griffin sitting back in his seat and watching her with a thoughtful expression. "I'm sorry that happened…" He tips his head toward her. "Looks like we have some common ground, at the very least. Music, which perhaps we can make together some time." Griffin is always up for a good old fashioned jam session, wanted status or not. "And memory loss — I can't remember a thing that happened from…shortly after I was taken into custody by the government, up until 2007. Seven years is just…gone. Vanished. Not a shred of recollection." He tilts his head to the side. "I've heard more than a few things that…make me wonder."

Suddenly, Liz is about to hear a confession that only Nadira knows of. "A man named Reynold Williams told me that he suspected I used to be part of the Company. And — apparently, I rescued a young boy and his sister, Lance and Hailey Gerkin?" He looks perplexed by his lack of information about that part of his life, a shrug rolling over his shoulders.

Blue eyes meet his darker ones over the table and she says quietly, "And now you know why I work with Richard Cardinal. I was a member of Phoenix before he really stepped up." Elisabeth shrugs slightly, and she looks thoughtful. "Interesting. Guy named Ryans might be able to tell you. Or not. I dunno. Most of my Company contacts have suddenly become wanted. The ones that managed to get the fuck out, I don't want to draw attention to. But if you really want to know… it might be possible to look into it."

Green eyes meet Liz's sky-blue eyes, Griffin tipping his head toward the woman. "Richard Cardinal's a good man. I was, obviously, a part of Messiah. Jesse Murphy…the fellow who lost his life that day that you and I first met…he was a good friend from Moab. He got me into the group. I joined because…I don't know, I felt like I should fight. For my son." And now, for his unborn child. "Came here to help the New York efforts, and…well, you know some of the rest. I'm working with the Ferry, these days…they've been extremely helpful in keeping my son safe."

The words about the Company prompts raised eyebrows. He probably could ask Ryans. "Ben Ryans, I know him. Tough motherfucker is about the only way I can describe him, as far as I know him. Took a stab to the gut a few days back. I…might speak to him. I'd be interested to find out if what Reynold said is true."

Elisabeth smiles faintly. "Don't let him hear you say that," she murmurs of his comment on Richard. But she nods slightly. "I know several people who were in Moab — some for reasons deserved and others not. My friends are the ones who destroyed the place," she tells him softly. "Aside from the fact that in general I don't agree that Messiah's tactics were ever going to get them anywhere…. you aren't striking me as the crazy terrorist type. So…. thus far, you're doing all right with me."

The information about Ryans makes her quirks a brow. She doesn't know Ryans hardly at all — just knows his ties to Ferry and Company. But she looks concerned. "Hope he comes out of it all right," she says of the man.

"Well, I owe your friends a thank you for destroying the place, then." Griffin offers a faint smile, sipping at his coffee. "Messiah didn't work because of Rupert Carmichael's treachery. The people…the people I fought with, we all believed that we could make a difference. That we could do something to stop them. But then…we believed in Rupert, too, and look where that got us?" The man slowly shakes his head, frowning.

"Crazy terrorist type? Hardly." Griffin offers a soft chortle, shaking his head. "I'm just…someone who wants to survive. I just…want to give my family a good life. Don't let the media fool you, I'm hardly the bloodthirsty beast they paint me out to be. I just feel the need to protect my loved ones, and those who can't protect themselves."

"Ryans will be fine," Griffin adds, "He's a tough man. I would think twice about crossing him…"

Elisabeth is forced to smile. "There are not many who would last a whole career in the Company," she informs him quietly. "Noah Bennet is one… and I guess Ryans is another." She shrugs. "I wouldn't want to face either one if push came to shove, so I'm glad we're all on the same side." She finishes her coffee and ignores the sandwich altogether. "Is there anything else I can do for you, Griffin?" she asks quietly. "I need to get back."

Griffin smiles, nodding slowly. As she states her need to return to work, Griffin simply offers forth a hand to her, for a handshake. "No. I really do appreciate you coming out to talk to me." He smiles faintly to Liz; once the handshaking is done, Griffin pulls out his wallet, placing enough money on the table to cover both of their meals. "Perhaps some time, you and I could get together and play some music."

She takes his hand…. and then smiles. "I think I might like that. I play the piano and occasionally sing," Elisabeth replies softly. It's more rare now than it used to be, but… "Thank you," she adds. "Next time I'll buy." She has a feeling it won't be the last she sees of him.


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