Participants:
| Scene Title | Best Laid Plans |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | The best laid plans are established but could go either way |
| Date | December 11, 2010 |
Chinatown — Brian's apartment
Feet perched on the coffee table. Brian has a book in strange characters nestled in his lap. The afternoon is being ignored away. Samara had left early that morning with a copy of himself, and Anna had stepped out to get some air. So this Brian happens to have the apartment to himself. One finger trailing down the cantonese book, the young man leans forward and sighs at it. "Pronk."
Picking up the book, it is set on the table without much passion. Standing up, he makes his way to the window. Chinatown below isn't as bustling as it used to be. Which is depressing. Wearing only basketball shorts, the man folds his arms across his chest. Peering out the window, he lets out a small yawn at the milling crowds below. Turning he journeys back to the kitchen. "Sandwich tiiime~"
Anna comes back after getting some air… a faint smile playing on her face, like there has been in the past few days. While she might not quite have decided on her present location, it is the first place where she's at that she's at somewhere due to her own initiative. Her own choice.
And that's a good thing.
"Hey Brian." The teen greets the closest thing to a father figure she has right now. As she heads into the kitchen behind Brian, she softly says, "I'm hungry." Despite its softness, it's almost like its a command, and one that's not even spoken out loud.
The door opens with the entrance of guest number one. "Hellooooooo~" Samara sings as she enters the apartment. She'd left Brian-copy sleeping at the Redbird apartment over an hour ago, choosing to go shopping instead of coming back too quickly and so along with her are several bags with clothes that fit her nearly perfectly, although some are rather questionable in their age appropriateness.
She traipses into the kitchen, showing off her latest and greatest purchase as of yet: a hat that looks like a husky. A husky hat. And a pair of husky mittens that look like hand puppets rather than actual mittens. "So… the cash in my wallet from my weekend in New York still works— seems money can also phase back into existence." She bites her bottom lip while her eyes light up a little more as her eyes flit between Anna and then Brian.
Sami's eyebrow quirks upwards around her pinked face (thanks to the chill outside and her walking in it, it's impossible to tell whether or not it's pinked from blush or the nip of Jack Frost). "You should probably put a shirt on, Brian… you're making me cold." Or something.
"Anna." Brian greets as she comes back in. Opening a few cupboards, some bread is taken out. Placed on the counter, he glances over his shoulder at the young woman. When she informs him that she is hungry, Brian's eyebrow quirks a little bit. "Okay. I am too. That's why I'm making a sammich. Would you like to make a sammich as well?" Setting his bread on the counter, he points at it. "Gluten-free bread-free bread." Turning around his brows arch as Samara walks in.
He fights very hard to suppress the laughter. His chest constricting as he stares at her. "What the…" His mouth closes tightly as he engages a war with the sillies. Turning slightly, Jack Frost and his nip bend over the counter to let out some silent laughter. Finally straightening he clears his throat. "That is a… nice hat." He gives a solid nod.
"Um. So Anna. Sam has some things to talk to you about. About our whole helping thing. Our arrangement. Sam's going to be taking points. And.. By the way it's my apartment. My apartment. My rules. No shirts. No shirts for anyone."
"Why can't you make me a sammich?" Anna asks, grinning faintly as she starts to get to work on making her sandwich. When Samara comes in, Anna just falls into a fit of giggles. "Nice mittens." She offers after calming down from the giggling enough to be able to talk again. When Brian's next comment comes up, Anna nods, "Okay, I understand." She teasingly starts to work on undoing her shirt… though if she isn't stopped, she'll stop herself after unbuttoning the first two buttons.
"Yeaaaaah… we're not taking our shirts off wise-guy," Samara sends a pointed look towards Anna with a flicker of a smile. "Nice try though— I know you're just looking for an excuse to incorporate a reverse Twilight moment into your day." Carefully Samara rolls the mittens off her hands and plucks the hat from her head in a staccato'd motion. "And just for the record, if you hit your head, and it starts bleeding, I will not use my shirt to stop the blood. Well, it wouldn't be the first thing I would use." She raises her chin ruefully, shooting Brian a playful smile before turning back to face Anna.
"And thanks guys! I love these mittens! When I was a kid I wanted mittens just like these, but my mom wouldn't let me because she was convinced I'd put on puppet shows when I should be focusing on more important and ambitious things like… studying. Or dancing. So I bought them. And I put on a mini puppet show for the homeless guy on the corner. I think he really liked it! There was a plot and everything!" She grins brightly as she pushes them aside.
Clearing her throat, she shakes her head to get down to serious business, "Sorry. I realize I shouldn't be enjoying life quite so much." Not that she can help it thanks to her new mantra. "ANYways. Anna, do you think you can help me connect with that Zach guy you mentioned? Like… a way I can meet him or connect with him or something? We think there might be a way to keep you completely safe in all of this, but you're really going to have to help me here." She winks.
Brian gives a shrug. "Well I'm not putting yours on." He reports simply. Frowning over at Anna. "I'm not your mother. Make your own food." Going to finish up his sandwich he falls silent, allowing Samara to take the floor. Bringing his sandwich up he takes a bite. Leaning against the counter, he leans back. Watching quietly, he perches up on the counter. Silently singing to himself. "Roooxaaannne~"
The teen was already making her own food, but still, that comment strikes a nerve. "I know you're not my mother. She's dead, remember?" She bites, perhaps a little harsher than strictly necessary. Then, Anna looks back to Samara, "I'm sorry, if I knew a way, I would… but it's always been that he contacted me when he needed anything, not the other way around. If I had any questions, I had to wait for him to talk to me." She explains with a sigh, "It's a security thing for them… I suppose.
Samara winces at Brian while singing, "You don't have to wear that dress tonight~" She twirls before she hops up on the counter, and shifts on it's surface, adjusting herself to find a greater amount of comfort. "I can understand that, like why it would be so hush-hush silent. Where did you meet him then? And how did he get in touch with you? And where did you meet him?" She turns back to face Brian, "If we can't track them… maybe there's a way we can inspire them to find us— "
"My mom's dead too, missy. So don't try to get all guilt trippy with me. It was a joke. Lighten up." Brian dismisses rather quickly. Watching Sam he gives a bit of a nod. "Or I mean.. If you wanted to go Anna. We could say Sam.. You're Anna's friend of like-minded persuasions and you talked her out of her fit of anger and into a more rational more genocidal decision." He gives a firm nod in agreement. "And.. YOU DON'T HAVE TO SELL YOUR BODY TO THE NIGHT~" Taking another bite of his sandwich.
"If you hang where they can see you.. Zach would probably come back for you, I imagine. Am I right or am I right?" Glancing over Samara's shoulder, Brian swallows while looking thoughtful. "Do you know if Haley's comet is tonight?"
"I don't know." Anna responds to Brian's questions, shrugging faintly. "I don't even know where they are watching, well… maybe one place, if they're watching that abandoned building still…" And then Anna finishes making her sammich and goes to thoughtful munchings. "What's this about Haley's comet anyway..?"
"Walk the streets for money~ You don't care if if it's wrong or it's right~" Sami sings another line of the song as she shifts on the countertop. She hmmms quietly as her fingers drum on the counter. "I don't think Zach would be okay leaving loose ends and as it stands you are a very loose end, Anna. But maybe we can convince them that I strong-armed you back into even more extremist thoughts. And then… hopefully we'll be golden."
She tosses her hair over her shoulder and carefully tucks it behind her ear, brushing it away from her face entirely before pulling it into a ponytail with an elastic around her wrist. "What I'll need is to come up with a detailed backstory. I figure I'm going to go emo and up the black, but I'll need your help and willingness to go along with this— "
As far as Haley's comet is concerned, "I… actually don't know. Why?" Her eyebrows furrow a little as she hmmms quietly. "I think… I think I need to see my family before I do this." And not tell them her intentions with all of this. "I just have to live for today."
"I just really don't want to miss it. I heard it is great to see." Brian smiles from behind his food. "Are you going to dye your hair black?" He tilts his head as if pondering whether or not he would approve of this change. Holding his sandwich near his lap for a long moment, he stares straight at Samara. Their conversation continues on somewhat, and finally he chimes back in. "That would look good."
Looking over to Anna to see her reaction he gives a light hm to Samara. "You got it Sam. We will visit your parents as soon as possible. I'll talk to my friend about borrowing that car. We can go over your backstory tonight if you want."
"Mhmmm, Black would look good." Anna agrees with Brian, smiling faintly, "And I suppose I am a big loose end." A pause before she chuckles, "And one that might prove to be quite troublesome in the long run." The teen grins, "Oh, I almost forgot…. any of you know a guy called Khalid? He's, like, Zach's boss or something. Within Humanis First, anyway." She thinks before she continues, "And I think this cop… Walsh, he might be in with them as well…"
Sami brushes her ponytail with her hand again as she grins broadly, "Really? I think I'll do it then. I mean, blending is good right? And I need to play the role." In this case it's the role of the super misunderstood teen. "Ooooo! Yes, let's work on my backstory! I want to play someone who would consider her soul black." Her eyes narrow as she grins mischievously. "And I think I should still be called Sami because I wouldn't respond to another name. But not Dunham. Something else… AND I think I should have lost like everything. I need like a good reason for being bitter. And I need to romanticize things like suicide. And we should know each other from school. And I should smoke. And have a random obsession with vampires and vampire literature." Which would require Sam smoking. "Maybe I should start.."
Her nose wrinkles at the names Khalid and Walsh as she turns towards Brian, "Do the names mean anything to you?"
"Yeah. You would look great." Brian grins back, "We'll come up with something." When asked about the names he furrows his brows. "Not sure." Meaning no, but he's not going to allow them to think he doesn't know things. He'll check in with Criminal Google later. "So Anna. Did this Zach guy ever put you in like a test? He ever test to see if you were evolved, or did you already have your card then?"
Sliding off the counter, Brian takes a step out of the kitchen. "Hold on." Stepping towards his room, he opens the door and enters. The sound of rooster cock-a-doodling emits from the room before Winters reappears wearing a white shirt. "There you go Sam. You less cold now?" He smiles brightly, before going to stand in the awkward middle of the two.
"I.. I have had this card for years." Anna admits sheepishly, "But there's a difference between knowing and, well … knowing." As Brian puts on a shirt, Anna closes the top buttons of hers again, chuckling faintly. "So, after we connect to Zach… what're going to do?"
"Uh. What was with the rooster?" Sam quirks an eyebrow as she inspects the shirt. "And yes," her chin raises in the air as she grins, "I feel much much warmer! You could've spared me all of those minutes of coldness had you done so earlier. Just sayin'," she winks at him before turning her gaze to Anna and hopping off the countertop.
"Well if they test me, I'm gonna be SLC expressive, right? Like, there won't be any surprises there, right? Maybe that should go on the to-do list: an evolved test kit or something. I just hate to be all, 'I'm SLC expressive… hahaha just kidding,' to a bunch of terrorists who'd rather see me dead anyways."
"After we connect with Zach we'll 'go along' with things. You don't need to worry about anything else. But I swear to you, you will NOT have to kill anyone, and I will do everything in my power to keep you safe…"
"What are you talking about?" Brian says rather sharply in response to Samara. "Yeah. That's what I'm thinking. This Zach kid seems pretty stupid." He gives a light shrug of his shoulders. "So if you play him the right way, say the right things. You should be able to get him to pull you in. But if he goes to his higher ups. This Khalid or Walsh. You probably have someone much more experienced and much more careful. If you can you only want to deal with Zach."
He goes over to brush his hand over Anna's shoulder, inadvertently rubbing some of his bread crumbs on her shirt. Oops. Walking back over to Sam, he stretches his arms up. "So.." Tucking his hands into his pockets he arches his brows as if to say, 'What now?'
"I'm going to take some time to relax, and watch TV." Anna responds to Brian's last question, heading back out of the kitchen. In the doorframe, she looks back once, "I'm sure we can plan more later… but I just need my mind off of things after all that's been going on of late." That said, she's out of the kitchen and into the living room, ready to watch TV.