Participants:
Scene Title | Her Most Trusted Advisor |
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Synopsis | Lynette proooobably needs to be talked down. Luckily, Huruma is around. |
Date | March 17, 2018 |
Sometimes things around Benchmark are a little interesting. Huruma has experienced some of it now, working with the clients down stairs. But this time, it's upstairs. Lynette is sitting on the floor in the commonroom with a small array of weapons out on the coffeetable. Guns, mostly, but there are a couple knives, too. For variety.
She appears to be taking stock, as there is a box next to her with ammunition in it and a notebook next to her with notes and numbers. And there's a hastily drawn map of the building out in front of her, one for each floor.
If Huruma notices anything strange about the downstairs— or the people that visit— she hasn't made a point to say anything yet. There's been just one introductory Self-Defense class that she oversaw to see how guests responded, and generally the reaction was good. It seems like that may become a thing for her. Otherwise she has kept a quiet sort of presence upstairs thusfar, having charmed up Lynette's family and generally keeping to herself. A good tenant.
Though she has been seeing some of the staff at the center, Huruma has not spoken on the matter much past the first day and after her first visit. Once or twice likely spotted coming and going, or getting caught listening in on the outside of one particular group session. She didn't go in.
Returning from the Safe Zone proper, Huruma is once more minding herself when she comes gliding off of the stairwell. Lynette's presence is common, but the scene she finds laid out is not quite. Low heels click to a halt, coat slung on one arm, blouse a splash of crimson over denim.
"Is there a party that you didn't invite me to?"
Lynette looks up at the click of heels and Huruma's voice. And then back to the scene before her. "Not yet," she says dryly. "But when it happens, you are definitely invited. Come sit. There's coffee." There is always coffee when Lynette is here. "I'm just trying to prep for when this shortage gets worse. When people notice that we're here and we have a lot of people to feed." And their own food storage which is now being heavily rationed. "I have basic security systems, but I need to see what I can do to upgrade them. And I'm trying to pick spots to hide some weapons were the patients can't find them. Or the kids. BUt where we can get to them when we need them."
Huruma makes herself at home, draping her coat across the back of a chair as she closes in on where Lynette sits. She hovers behind the other woman a moment, peering down at the array of items and the handmade maps. She soon sits down— in a chair— on the other side of the table, pulling up with a small noise chuffing in her throat.
"So your first thought against hungry thieves is all of this?" Huruma arches a brow to Lynette, just a tiny bit critical. "And hiding weapons here is dangerous. You know that…" Long fingers pick up one of the maps, plucking it from the table. But, she hasn't said it's a bad idea— so there is that.
"Lockboxes? Could tune them to staff keycards." Huruma's lips purse as she makes this initial suggestion. "Break-ins aside, what else do you really… expect?"
"I wouldn't shoot hungry people," Lynette says, "but I would like to be ready in case the worst happens. In Mexico, people would try to raid us. For the medications, for the supplies. For the Evolved. Cartels, hate groups, It was a lot easier to secure the weapons there. The buildings were separate and no one could get anywhere they shouldn't be." Lynette turns to look at Huruma. "But yes, it was my first thought. That's bad, isn't it." She sets down the gun she was holding, the movement a bit sheepish. "Lockboxes are a good idea," she adds, just a little belatedly.
"It sounds far more organized down there." Huruma murmurs, not discounting that someone up here could do something. But there is a certain aspect that people around here are missing some of. She puts the map down and picks up the gun Lynette held a moment before. She immediately goes through the motions of disengaging pieces to assess its build and quality. "More likely here, you ought to invest in some electro-weapons. Less need for locks and codes. Less force. Equal deterrent." She doesn't need to tell Lynette how tasers work.
"Wolfhound uses an acoustic based pistol that is likely out of reach for you, but I imagine… that something nonlethal would be far more up your alley." Huruma calmly slats the gun back together. "If you want the arms, you could also put the magazines and body in different places."
"Yes, that's true. They weren't rebuilding down there like we are here. But that doesn't mean it's any safer." Lynette frowns there, looking lost for a moment. Like maybe she's not sure if that's true or if it's just in her head.
The gun isn't anything special, but it's good quality and well maintained. Reliable, not flashy. Of course, Lynette doesn't need her guns to be flashy.
"That's not a bad idea. Less likely to escalate something that could have been stopped. Less likely to actually hurt someone." She lets out a heavy sigh before she looks up to Huruma. "I'm suddenly glad Mateo didn't walk in on this."
Huruma sets the gun aside as she quietly listens to Lynette's words and the settling of her mood on the room. Eyes half-lidded, she responds with a twitch of her lips into a curve, vaguely reassuring when she looks from the blonde to the doors and back again.
"From what I have seen this place does not lack for people willing to fight for what they have. Perhaps that is a blessing for its safety." Huruma's smile grows some, expression amused at the mention of Mateo. "As entertaining as that would be, you are right. We may have had to concoct another explanation on the spot." She grins now, picking up one of the knives and testing the balance of it on a finger. It looks precarious, perched there.
"I suppose that's true. Everyone in the Zone sort of has to pull together. Maybe we should host some sort of… community-building event." Maybe instead of the guns. It's a different kid of protection than she's used to, but it is still protection in irs own way. Lynette looks over when Huruma picks up the knife and balances it. She doesn't seem worried that Huruma might drop it, instead, she looks impressed. "He might believe that I was just showing off the collection," she says with a flourish of her hands.
Probably Mateo would not believe that.
Huruma twines the knife handle between her fingers to bring it back down, a smooth movement that tucks it along her wrist as she sets it to the table again. There is a deep laugh for Lynette's assertion that she could have been showing her collection.
"Only if I had brought some of mine, I think." But Nette sitting in here with a pile of weapons of her own handling looks kind of bad indeed. "An event would not be a terrible idea. Your facility is still relatively new, even if people are utilizing it. A grand opening, perhaps. Nothing intensive, thanks to the shortages, buuut…" Huruma drawls, hands opening up in a small shrug of suggestion. "It would serve a purpose in integrating things."
"Yours are probably more worth showing off," Lynette says with a crooked smile. "Especially the Wolfhound stuff. Bring that around sometime."
Her fingers twitch when Huruma goes on, but since there's no cigarettes around, no alcohol, she picks up her coffee instead. "Right. We need some of that. Introduction to the area… understanding that this is a safe place, all that." And yet, she seems subdued. She looks over to Huruma there. "I'm not great at big events. I mean, they're okay if I can slip away when things get— but you can't do that if you're hosting."
Huruma's brow lifts in assent, because yes, the Hounds have great toys. She gives another grin, hooking one leg over the other and picking up the map pieces to study them again. If Lynette wants places to hide 'safety equipment', she can definitely still help. The papers tilt to the side so that she can study Lynette further, once the explanation ekes out. Hm.
"An open house, then? People could come in, meet staff?" Huruma's mouth firms, thougtful for Lynette's mental anxiety. "No need for you to do much aside from initial welcome and those you wish to meet."
"I'll think about it," Lynette says, leaning back against the couch. "Maybe Mateo and Silvia will have some good ideas. And I can run it by staff and see if they'd be up for it." And give the clients a heads up, of course. "So much easier to just think about defenses," she adds with a chuckle.
But it seems like she's putting them aside for now, because she gets up from the floor to cross over to refill her coffee. "How are you settling in here, by the way? I don't think I asked. Is there anything you need?" This is easier, too, worrying about someone else other than herself.
Huruma isn't under an illusion that Lynette knows just as much about social events as she does castle defense— maybe once upon a time. This is what they both know. It's easy. A habit.
"They seem to be professionals here, so I think an open house may be something they will be more receptive to." Huruma angles, leaning forward to pick up Lynette's pen and make some notes in the margins of her maps while the other woman goes to refill her fuel. As the questions begin, Huruma smiles thinly to herself and waits until she's finished some notes and piled the maps back in place. Nette can look through it later, and Huruma's writing is so much of a script that she will immediately notice the opinions.
"I do not need anything I cannot get. You have been gracious enough with me." Huruma did sort of just swoop in like some sort of carrion bird on the wind. "It has been interesting, being here."
"They are. Professionals." They are. Lynette is much better at hiding in an office and signing papers. "I'll talk to them. They'll probably like the idea. If only for the advertising." That comes with a crooked smile as she comes back over, having fixed her coffee just so.
"Huruma, I haven't been gracious. You're an old friend and you're welcome wherever I end up. So if anything comes up that you need, you let me know." Gosh. "I'm glad it's been interesting. Not too interesting, I hope."
"Fine, fine." Huruma's smile is more at Lynette's emoting under her words than the words themselves, a laugh following along with a lazy melody. Oh, Lynette. Gracious even under compliments. Hands fold over her lap as she leans back into her seat, pale eyes watchful. "I've felt a few minds that I haven't felt in ages… but otherwise, the normal kind of interesting that comes with catching up with people I needed back in my life." The normal, good kind of interesting.
"Well, then yes, I'm glad." Lynette chuckles there. Because it could have been interesting like a group of teens deciding to tempt fate and duct tape her into her room. "I still have a list of people to track down from the old days. But I'm glad you wandered in here, at least."
Her gaze moves back over to her assorted weaponry. And then she sighs dramatically. "I suppose I need to lock those away again." Since she has an alternative to arming the whole building now.
"I tend to do that. Wander into places." Huruma flashes a smile, eyes narrowing at the edges with a moment of mirth. "I can help with that. I can write down some companies for you to look at stock from, too… Prime reviews, coming from me." It should alleviate any worries, then— and keep Mateo from finding Lynette surrounded by a small armory.