Participants:
| Scene Title | Boats and Bombshells |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Bebe, Brian, and Cardinal are separately looking for the same boat. Instead, all they find is subtle homosexual subtext. |
| Date | July 28, 2009 |
Some Random Boat Dock, NYC
Do you have any idea just how many marinas there are still in operation in New York City? A lot. A whole hell of a lot, in fact. Way more than Bebe had ever anticipated. Of course, when one is searching for a 58' yacht that's presumably parked around here somewhere, that does narrow the dock choices down just a little bit… but, not as much as you might think.
So far, all of the tiny (ex)tart's searching as been in vain. When last she'd left her intrepid hooligan friends(?), John Doe had been putting a pretty serious dent into her on-board stash of fudge ripple ice cream and Richard Cardinal had insisted on stocking the entire bottom shelf of the refrigerator in the galley with some sort of off-brand beer that only he seemed to enjoy drinking. She'd even been attempting to teach them both the basics of how to pilot their luxury apartment on the high seas. In other words, it really hadn't been all that bad.
However, unable to contact either of her former room— er, boatmates, Bebe was beginning to lose hope in ever running across either the boys of her big boat again. Perhaps she really should have covered docking procedure a bit better before dashing off to play the hero to a pimp. The idea that, once day, the Casino Royale might be discovered somewhere at the bottom of the Hudson or the Bay was beginning to look like a distinct possibility. Her last piece of Jack, lost to a watery grave. How ironically appropriate but sad all the same.
Her feet hurt. It was time for a rest even if the hour was still early in the afternoon. Bebe copped a squat on a nearby bench and leans her head back against the wooden slats before exhales oh-so-heavily. SIGH.
God damn it, where the hell did the metal man park the boat? Richard Cardinal is starting to find out exactly how many marinas there are as well, and this is the latest one that he's checked out in his attempt to find the yacht that they'd been tooling about in for awhile in the Hudson.
The lines of fate or coincidence align as the sun creeps higher in the sky, as the wanted felon crosses in front of the bench that she's seated upon; not noticing her just yet, a pair of shades firmly settled upon his face, dressed in a simple black t-shirt and jeans as he walks right past her. His head's turned away from her, towards the assorted spires of boatsail and antennae, lips pursed in a tight frown.
"Don't boats have GPS on them?" Winters asks, tone a tad whiny his feet dragging against the dock as he trails Cardinal. Bebe, just another person out in the world. "What does this boat look like again, and tell me again why this has to be done before you do the favor I asked." Brian mumbles, tucking his thumbs into his belt. The annoyed sidekick is a part he plays well for now. His eyes don't really move through the boats or anything, he's mostly focusing on Cardinal's shoes.
A glance over his shoulder. "She's cute." He mutters, as guys do, mostly to himself though allows himself to be overheard by Cardinal. His eyes go forward again after briefly admiring Bebe's features before picking up the pace to get at Cardinal's side.
And, Bebe, likewise seems to conveniently avoid noticing Cardinal, too, what with those big brown eyes presently preoccupied with the big blue sky so high overhead. For a moment or two, she distracts herself from the soreness of her soles by playing a childhood game and trying to name the shapes that manifest out of cotton candy clouds at the whim of the winds. A gentleman's coat. A cane. A wild flame. Why does everything conspire to remind her of John Logan?
The clone's audible observation goes unacknowledged save for the barest glimpse of a grin that comes and goes too quickly to be measured in anything other than a quarter note.
"I told you, Edward…" As with most guys, the brief comment of 'she's cute' breaks his train of thought and brings Cardinal's head around before he misses whatever particularly choice piece of ass is being commented upon. The sight of the girl perched there on the bench causes him to nearly trip over his own feet, actually stumbling a step before twisting on his heel with a sharp grind of dust and wood-splinters against rubber sole. "Barbara?"
"You know her?" Brian mutters quietly, turning sharply on his heel. "Barbara?" Brian repeats in a dubious tone. That's a name for old people, and she certainly doesn't look old. Tucking his hands into his suit pants, Brian eyes Bebe for a moment.
This is a pleasant distraction from looking for stupid boats that don't matter. Glancing at Cardinal then back to Barbara, Brian waits for the two to reconnect or connect or whatever it is they have to do before he speaks up.
Hrk! Bebe's head abruptly departs the back of the bench when she's unexpectedly addressed by her false first name. What now?! Oh, hey! Serendipity! Or, rather—
"Richard!" The exclamation is issued without apology and, despite all of the grim darkness that seems to overshadow nearly everything nowadays, Bebe actually sounds— happy. She bounds over to the man and his unfamiliar company and only just barely seems to curb the impulse to initiate their reunion with abrupt bodily contact in the form of a running tackle. No neck-swinging. None of that. Needless to note, however, she is glad to see him. "I was just looking for you!" A beat and a brief but bright smile extended to (a) Brian. "Who's your friend?"
There's a bit of a split of emotion there, as Cardinal isn't sure to be angry at the young woman or happy to see her… but her bright smile as she bounds over tilts the balance to the latter, and he crooks a wry smile, straightening up as he allows, "Damn good to see you, Bebe. And— shit, don't you have a phone? I've been worried to hell, I mean, you ran off with assface during the fire…" A pause, then he tilts his head, "This is Brian, Brian, this's Bebe."
Watching as Bebe runs.. and stops, Brian tilts his head with a little smirk. Looking at Cardinal, he grins a bit as Cardinal answers Bebe. He arches a brow at the name 'Bebe'. "Bebe?" He asks, a little surprised. "Or Barbara?" When Cardinal makes introductions he offers his hand. "A pleasure, Bebe."
"Bebe," asserts the bright-eyed young woman engaged in the glad-hand. Her fingers linger in Brian's grasp for just a split second longer than absolutely necessary but this can easily be blamed on distraction due to the fact that she'd been offering an unasked explanation. "Barbara's—" Too formal. Not really her name. Something. Whatever she was going to say, however, remains unspoken and her stilted statement ends up swept underneath a much more pressing matter.
"Is this where we're anchored?" We're. "I think I've probably wandered down every dock this side of Manhattan!" A beat. "Where's John?"
Oh. This is— this is going to be awkward. No doubt she can tell that, as Cardinal's hand slides to rub against the side and back of his neck uncomfortably, his smile fading. "I'm… not sure," he admits, slowly, "Edward and Rickham shanghaied the boat, I'm not entirely certain where they left the damn thing after— well, after everything."
Conspicuously, he did not answer where John is.
Giving Bebe's hand a firm squeeze, he listens for Bebe's explanation of Barbara, but when there isn't one he just gives a nod to the void. Letting his hand sling back down to his side, he slides them back into his pockets.
Glancing over to Cardinal he gives a light hum at this Edward and Rickham business. This is taking a long time, he better get a free trip on this boat. He decides to let them do the talking for now.
Okay, admittedly, that isn't anything at all what Bebe was expecting to hear… primarily because she has no real idea who Edward and Rickham are. "Who??" See? She casts a drifting look back over to Brian, as if maybe the answer might be written on his face somewhere, before eventually turning her attention back to the thief. "Are you saying— someone stole my boat?"
"John's boss, and one of his… co-workers. Bebe, John…" There's really no easy to way to say this. Cardinal's hand drops back from his neck, reaching over to find Bebe's shoulder in a firm squeeze as he tries to make serious eye contact, "John's dead."
Not exactly sure who John is, Brian's lips pull down when the revelation of his death comes out. A small sigh pulls out of his lips. His eyes roll over Bebe's features for her imminent reactions. Hands pulling out of his pockets, he lifts them up somewhat before sighing once again. Dropping them he just offers quickly, "I'm sorry."
"What?" While Bebe is by no means big, she seems to shrink into something so small when Cardinal delivers the punchline of the worst joke told in all of EVER. She searches the faces of both men for hint, clips, or clues that might suggest that what's just been said isn't true. "…what do you mean dead? Dead how— when?!" No tears. Not yet. But… soon. Signs of the coming storm are easily seen brewing behind those big, brown eyes.
"Doctor Ray…" Cardinal hesitates for a moment as he tries to think of how best to explain this, fingers sliding down her shoulder a bit to her upper arm, whatever sympathy or pain - if any - in his eyes hidden by shades, "…John was caught in a — feedback loop, with his younger self. If they didn't break out of it, it would've caused a disaster've epic proportions. He sacrificed himself to stop it."
Not the entire, unembellished truth, but who knows what was going through the minds of the twin Cases?
Case. That's who they're talking about. Brian's gaze goes downward for a moment. Not wanting to cause further harm by staring at Bebe while she has a breakdown. Something built into his core, if someone is hurting and you're not close enough to comfort them, you pretend it's not happening. It's only the right thing to do. So he looks the other way after offering his condolences. But finally he risks an open look at the girl's face, sympathy is written on his features though there's not much he can do with it.
This whole— people with wacky and unusual abilities beyond the norm bit is still so much of a wonder and a novelty to Bebe. That Cardinal has even attempted to broach explaining it with Brian standing right there makes her eye the other man all the more suspiciously. Does he know? Was he there?
All of her words suddenly seem inadequate. "Sacrificed." The word she repeats sounds like a condemnation more than an echo. And then, she very nearly forgets how to speak altogether; consigned only to spare syllables and incomplete gestures as she abruptly crashes against Cardinal's chest.
"Yeah." It's quietly spoken, and then— she crashes into Cardinal's chest, and his arms fold down around her, wrapping about slender shoulders and the mid-point of her back to pull her in against him tightly, head tilting down to brush a kiss to her hair. He doesn't try to say anything else, though, because words can't really help with something like this. And because, maybe, he's afraid of giving away his own feelings on losing John.
Looking up into the sky, then over into the water, then through the boats, then at his own shoes. Brian seems to be interested in everything but Cardinal and Bebe. His fingernails get a thourough examination before they're tucked back into his pockets. The dock is studied intensely for a moment as Brian puts together what the thing is made out of. Once that mystery is solved he goes to counting boats silently in his head. One..two..three…
AUGH! Agony at one in the afternoon! DO NOT WANT! Bebe buries her face in against Cardinal's black t-shirt as her slim shoulders begin to shudder with the inevitable muted sobs of someone who has just been crushed under the weight of a terrible truth.
This is obviously awkward for Brian. One of the young woman's arms rather abruptly leaves her side and, while still limited in range of motion due to Cardinal's cradling, she succeeds in hooking a few fingers around one of the blond man's wrists and dragging him into their strange embrace. GROUP HUG, KK??
Hey, this is pretty awkward for Cardinal, too! This is the second person in as many days that's obviously in emotional distress, and giving that sort of comfort is not something the ex-con is particularly good at. An uncomfortable patting against her shoulder as he holds her in against his chest, and then— wait, is she pulling Brian in? Hey, he doesn't have to hug Brian, too, right? Right?
"Hi." Brian offers to Cardinal as he is pulled in alongside them. One arm sliding around Bebe's back and the other.. well. It goes on Cardinal's shoulders. Giving a bit of a squeeze as Brian offers a very awkward smile. "I'm.. very sorry." He offers again in a very sympathetic tone. He would love to go look for that boat right about now, rather be awkward sandwiched but he's not about to be the insensitive one.
It's almost as if Bebe is struggling to achieve stoicism via osmosis; she's hedging her bets by clinging to both men at once. She needs… something. Something to hold onto. Something real. Brian and Cardinal, for all their personal foibles and misgivings, at the very least seem to qualify as saviors sheerly for their conveniently shared condition of corporeality.
In an attempt to assuage the waterworks a bit ahead of schedule, Bebe tries to speak through sniffled and sobs. "Wh-what about— where… wh-where is he?" Rather pathetic, really.
A stolid look is returned to the other man, as if to say 'this is not gay'. It doesn't last very long, though, speaking perhaps to Cardinal's suppressed sorrow at his friend's loss, his head ducking in against Bebe's hair for a moment as he exhales a sigh against it. Once she tries to speak, he murmurs, "He's gone. Unless you mean the other one. He's— in hiding, with th'Ferry, with his sister."
After Cardinal's declarative look of how un-gay this situation is. Brian can't help but let his fingers brush the other man's ass when he drops his hand. The tiniest little smirk tugs at his lips before he looks back to Bebe. All teasing removed when he goes back to her sadness, he can't help but feel sorry for her.
One hand goes to the small of her back, rubbing up and down gently. Having no idea how close the two were, he decides this is the best decision. Rubrubrub.
Unaware of the subtle and slightly antagonistic homosexual subtext slowly building between her two companions, Bebe instead utters, "…Libby." before attempting to disentangle herself from the combined clutching grasp of both Brian and Dick. The doe-eyed young woman digs the heel of a palm against the outer corner of her right eye and viciously wipes away what wetness she finds there while simultaneously drawing in a deep breath.
"I'm sorry," she says to Brian, the sadness in her voice not at all disguised by the laugh in which those words are delivered. "I don't… normally… do this…"
Bebe can't help but feel at once overwhelmed and ridiculous. It's been an awful (comma) long week. Perhaps crying is contagious. Even without the sudden death of someone she considered a friend.
There is no subtext! Once the former prostitute pulls herself away from their embrace, Richard's arm sharply smacks against Brian's to push it away, a glare briefly directed in his direction before he steps after Bebe a half-step. "S'alright," he says quietly, "It's been a fucked up couple've months, babe."
"Don't be sorry." Brian insists, though he can't help but grin as Cardinal pushes him off. "That's completely normal. Please don't be sorry, really." Brian insists, bringing up his hand to squeeze her shoulder gently. "Completely normal. I'm sorry I can't do anything else for you." Winters insists softly, darting a glance at Cardinal then back to the prettier of the pair.
Brown eyes dart from side to side as Bebe gives the increasingly active dock some serious consideration before she says, "Can we— " She extends this look to Brian so that he might understand that she's officially including him in the we… "—go somewhere… else?" Once her fingers have finished sorting out the tears from her cheeks, she crosses her arms rather tightly over her chest and ducks her chin, eyes cast aside to sadly study something on the ground just a few feet away. An old bottle cap.
"Yeah," Cardinal's arm shifts to circle around Bebe's shoulders, to turn her away from the docks and back in the direction of the lot where they parked, "Let's… get you out've here, babe, we'll go get some food or something. We'll find the boat later, it's gotta be docked somewhere along the river…"
