Participants:
| Scene Title | Cardinal Snitches |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Cardinal comes to tell Abby about what he saw Deckard buy and with concerns about the old man. Concerns which Abby can't assauge cause they worry her too. |
| Date | September 19, 2009 |
Old Lucy's - Upstairs
It's later in the evening, after the general festivities downstairs have passed on, that Cardinal makes his appearance upstairs. He hasn't been here very often since Isabelle passed, although he once was a common visitor— to an extent that he probably shouldn't explain to Abigail, lest she be forced to burn certain pieces of furniture. The shadow creeps about for a bit in private reminiscence, letting Abby go about her business for a little while as he explores the more recent changes.
It's a mix of both Izzy's furniture and that which belongs to the two new inhabitants. The bird cage in the far corner with it spacious room for the blue and white inhabitant. Scarlet from her multi level home in the other corner. IT doesn't smell like Izzy's place anymore but much like what the apartment over in the village renaissance was. Baking and candles all made to slightly cover the faint whiff of smoke that seems to permeate from below. Eventually that will be gone.
Abigail's sprawled on the floor between couch and television, papers from a folder laid out. like she was reading a book. English and French words, photocopies of a journal it seems. She's oblivious to her shadowy visitor. A carafe of coffee in front of her and some in the mug beside her, a plate of shortbread cookies. She's settling in for a long night of reading it would seem.
She's oblivious, at least, until as she looks down at the papers a bird's head rises up over her shoulder - at least according to her shadow - to look down at them, cast across the journal's photocopies. "Schoolwork?"
It's a long blink a moment or three to realize what exactly is happening before Abigail barks out a laugh. "Far from it. Extracurricular Richard" She scoots backwards, lifting herself till she's sitting up instead of reclining on her stomach. "Had fun downstairs?"
"Too much on my mind to have much fun," admits Richard in fairly rueful, wistful tones, the bird's shadow nestled still there upon her shoulder to the view of the room's lights, "You sound like you're going alright. Things well with you?"
"As well as can be. No word on Ivanov or Pastor Sumter yet. But it's going well enough besides that. What about you? You said that there was something that you wanted to talk to me about?" It might be strange to others to be talking to a shadow as opposed to talking to a real person. "More questional on morals?"
"No, no, ah…" A moment's pause, before Cardinal inquires, "…how's Deckard doing? I know you two are— uh— involved now."
"We're having sex on a irregular basis Richard. You can say it. You have questions about Flint?" That's surprising. "He's.. He's flint. Doesn't talk much. He's been pre-occupied lately. It's not easy carrying an ability that you never expected to have but he's apparently got an apartment and Teo's bunking with him" There's a wriggle of her nose from side to side. "He's too skinny again" Her own personal opinion. "But I haven't heard from him for a few days. Not since he.. " Talked french and they stopped making love three minutes in. "Lets just say, sometimes, my ability in him sucks"
"Your ability in him… is something wrong?" Concern seeps into the shadow's tone, the bird-shadow head tilts a bit to regard her, "Or is he just having trouble— adjusting to the whole being a healer thing?" Given everything, he's rather worried about the situation.
"He says it's fucking him up. That somethings wrong with him. But he won't elaborate though" Abigail frowns, gesturing to the papers in front of her. "It's the journal of the man who had the gift before me. Francois Allegre. I thought maybe, once someone told me that it existed, that I might find something to help him, something to help me, maybe get it back, but that's.. that's not what I'm finding in here, at least not yet" Her blue eyes flicker from the papers to the shadow.
"Richard… what's wrong? I've never seen you this concerned about Flint"
"Damn it… I predicted Kazimir's power would affect its host, but… Francois's never seemed to have much effect on you. Maybe it's because you were so young— I don't know. This whole situation gives me a headache." A sigh hisses through the shadow, and Richard hesitates for a moment, "You might want to… talk to Flint about his substance abuse. He's fucked himself up enough over the years as it is. Maybe Laudani can help talk to him, too."
"He likes Marijuana" Abigail gives that. She knows he smokes that. "Cigarettes and alcohol but he's not been able to do much with those, something about it" Abigail shrugs, brows furrowed. "Richard what did you see him do that has you so worried that you'd come to me?"
There's a silent moment from the shadow, then he admits, "Buying cocaine from Logan."
A palm with it's neat nails rises to rest against her chest, shock evident on her fair face when Cardinal drops that little nugget. "Cocaine. From Logan? You're sure? It's not, it's not something you might have seen and it was someone else?" Please let it have been someone else.
"No, it's… yeah, it was him, I was right there," Cardinal admits, hesitating before noting, "It could have been innocent, for all I know he's trying to work to get into John's confidence, or something… normally I wouldn't care what the hell the old man shoves up his nose, it's his business, but now he's involved with you. So…"
"And you don't want me to get my heart broke" Everyone doesn't want her to get her heart broken. Her lover - she can't get over saying that - her lover is snorting coke from the guy who had her tongue cut out and kidnapped her. Cocaine. She's never even seen it, knows it's a white powder, knows that 90 percent of all money in the US has traceable amounts on it. A pink tongue slips out to wet her lips twice. "What do I do?"
Good question. Cardinal wasn't even sure if he was going to tell her, but— "Don't say anything to him. Talk to Laudani, maybe, if he's rooming with Deckard, maybe he knows what the guy's up to. I'll… talk to the old man directly."
"Okay. I can do that" She can talk to Teo. Teo will know, or at least know what to do. "Richard, is he.. is he.." She shouldn't ask the question, she's tried to believe that he isn't screwing other women. Not while she's doing that with him. "He's not visiting hookers is he? I know he did before."
"I don't think so." He isn't sure, but… "There were plenty of girls at Logan's club, and he wasn't going after any of them. I don't think he'd do that to you." He'd better not be, or Cardinal will kneecap him.
Many others would kneecap him. many many others would kneecap him. But that he was in the club and not going after any others. "What's the club?" Abigail levels her eyes on the shadow
"Burlesque. It's a Linderman property. Not the sort've place you'd wander into, but, I don't suggest going anywhere near it…" A sigh whispers upon Cardinal's breath, "…honestly, if he's… having trouble drinking and smoking because of his power, he might just be— desperate to sate an addiction."
Cardinal's warning will likely be disregarded. Some day soon she's going to go visit now that she knows where he's hiding his ass. "Grasping at straws… Richard, we need get that gift out of him. It's going, it's going to kill him. It's changing him and I don't know if it's for the better or not" I'm starting to think that it's not and… "
"What's it doing to him?" A thread of sharp concern, "And if it's affecting him this badly— shit. I'm going to need to go talk to Gabriel, and soon…"
"I don't know Richard. It's not like he talks to me. When we meet up, we sit and watch TV and a movie,s tare at each other and get around after a few hours of awkward to actually getting undressed and making love. We exchange one word on a regular basis and that's 'okay' and not really much else"
There's a pause, before Cardinal admits a bit ruefully, "That pretty much sounds like how he's always been."
There's a pause, before Cardinal admits a bit ruefully, "That pretty much sounds like how he's always been. I mean— let's face it, communication has never really been Deckard's strong point. Half my conversations with him have always been him talking in gutteral noises and vague 'okay' sort of statements."
"I should have pressed him" But he kept pulling away and she didn't want to fight. "It never did anything like this to me. I never spoke… french, or .." But she has done stuff since not having it anymore. Not as rigid in some of her principles. "I'm walking around with three tattoo's" She offers up. "I asked Teo whether.. if it left me, if that in itself changed me, I mean… I'm making lvoe to flint and there's no ring at all in the future, I have tattoo's, I…" What else has changed? She's drank a few times whereas she wouldn't have before. "And nwo flint's shaving, dressing better, taking better care of himself" Except for some cocaine.
"It does seem like it has some… influence over the host," admits Cardinal quietly, "Does Francois's journal have any particular— clues, any help towards any of this? I don't know if he ever would have noticed, himself… and it could be having a greater effect on Flint because he's not normally at all like that."
"I just got the journal Richard. I've only gotten a few pages in. I have school, and I have the bar and there's ferryman stuff. I managed to carve out some time tonight only because I'm gonna sleep in before church tomorrow and I don't really have anyone to practice my EMT stuff on. Leo's out right now. but I'm looking. Please lord let me find something, but I'm looking. Seeing if Francois wrote down how it passes along, so that Flint can give it back to me" And let him get back to how he was, how he is, how he should be.
Abby's hand rub at her face, a soft sigh let loose towards the bird shadow.
"Okay. Let me know if you do find anything, alright…? I'll see what I can find out myself." A sigh stirs from the shadow, and Richard reassures, "It'll be all right, Abigail. We'll figure this out."
"I'll let you know Richard" That's a promise too. After she lets Richard known. "Some days Richard, I wonder if it ever will be alright. You should go. I have things to read and Leo might come home and wonder what i'm talking to since there's no one here that here can see" A moment to break the levity is given when she reaches down to the shadow and strokes a few fingers over him as if tickling him.
Of course, there's nothing there to touch, but one can pretend. "I know Leo. But alright, I'll go… take care of yourself, all right? Let me know if you find anything, or if you need anything, you know how to get in touch with me." The shadow spills back across the floor, heading for the exit.