Jesus Christ Cardinal

Participants:

cardinal_icon.gif simon_icon.gif

Scene Title Jesus Christ Cardinal
Synopsis Back from Japan, Cardinal stops in to visit Simon.
Date May 24, 2009

The Lighthouse


With a pair of old, tattered headphones fit snug over his ears, Simon is taking this quiet time of the night to work out. The kids are all asleep, Deckard is out doing something fishy, and Brian is around somewhere, but not in the room with him. Finally, the kid has some time to himself. A blue mat is laid out underneath him, equally old and tattered, and he's doing a set of pushups on it. The Weatherthans is pumping into his skull, filling his head with punk-like rhythms and emo lyrics.

"Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five," he counts before collapsing onto the mat. 25, success! He rolls over, breathes in deep, and settles into a position to begin a series of 25 crunches. "One, two, three - "

There wasn't any knock on the door, nor the sound of the knob rattling - of course, headphones on his head as they are, the young man wouldn't have heard the new arrival even if he did bother to knock. The thief generally has a more subtle means of entry.

So it's probably not until a pistachio shell's tossed to bounce on his head that he'll notice that Cardinal's appeared, between one moment and the other, sprawled in one of the chairs. There's a bag of pistachios in his lap, and he's cracking one at the moment.

The shell ricochets off Simon's hair, which is increasingly becoming a shaggy mane as he neglects to cut it, somewhere around his seventh rep or so. He blinks and flails, dropping onto his back quickly before rising and throwing his headphones off. "What the hell!?" He turns, eyes piercing the dark to spot Cardinal in a chair. He looks more than a little pissed.

"What is your problem, man?" His whispers come out in wheezing breaths as he crosses the room to move closer to the man. "You don't call to tell me you guys are back, and then you just break in here? What would Brian say?" Simon glares for a moment, then walks over to couch to drop his tired body onto it.

"Probably 'Jesus Christ Cardinal' like he usually does," replies Cardinal without losing so much as a touch of shame or apology to it, popping one of the nuts into his mouth, chewing, swallowing. Then he drops the shell into the bag, setting it over to one side, "Last time he nearly had a heart attack, I think."

A smile just-tugs up at one corner of his lips as he looks back to the young man, "And I just got back today."

"Yeah? Well you do like to sneak up on people, I guess." Simon doesn't ask about this, though, because he's used to people being sneaky around him. After all, he surrounds himself with little children and their little noiseless footsteps. It leads to a lot of broken dishes and near heart attacks.

"Get ready for some major jet lag, then. Japan is freaking far away. It might take you a few days to recover." Simon could tell Cardinal more precise information, given the amount of time zones and hours traveled, but decides against it. "Glad to have you back. How did it all go?" His own mouth is pulled into a grin, because he's happy to have a friend back in town.

"Oh, trust me…" Cardinal stifles a yawn, nose wrinkling up with a brief grimace, "…I know. I'm fuckin' beat, wanted to stop by and see how shit was goin' though." That said, he offers an wry smile to Simon, "Oh, went alright. If you watch the news, you'll probably have seen that Monroe carried out his big plan."

Simon grabs one of the throw pillows on the couch and pulls it tight against his chest with both arms. "I was gonna ask you about that. So he killed that Nikamoona guy?" A frown replaces Simon's grin as he shakes his head. "That bastard, I told him not to kill anyone." The kid glances over at Cardinal again and sighs. "Well I'm glad everyone came back alright, at least."

"Given that he's a former member of a group that was planning on killing most of the human race with a virus," drawls Cardinal, "I'd say that keeping it to one death was showing restraint on his part." He shakes his head tightly, noting with an irritable gesture of one hand, "He's fighting a greater evil, but that doesn't make him less of a bastard."

Simon's stomach might have churned once at the thought of someone actually wanting to wipe out all of the human race, but now he barely blinks an eye. Though, he does ask, "What kind of a virus? Not that it matters. A virus is a virus, right?" He blinks and looks away. "Um, you didn't kill anyone, did you?" When Simon looks back, he has one of those innocent and hopeful looks that only kids can pull off without being creepy.

A slight snort of breath from Cardinal, his head shaking tightly. "I can count the number of people I've killed on one hand, kid, and every one was self defense," he claims. Of course, anyone could claim it. He looks over at the teenager with a wry half-smile, "So how's shit been here on Staten?"

Simon gives Cardinal a curt nod, though he's not entirely sure one of those kills didn't happen while in Tokyo. Considering the seriousness of the topic, though, he decides not pry. "Shit here has been the same. To be honest, I've been spending a lot of time on the mainland with my sister. She doesn't want to come over here, really, and I'm not sure I want to move back to Manhattan, so there's been some travel expenses piling up."

"We should be able to fix that soon," Cardinal says with the slightest of nods, a smile faintly curving to his lips once more, "I mentioned the heliport we were talking about? If we can establish some… stronger routes to and from the mainland, I can get you free passage back and forth. I mean, you'd have to go with the regular shipment schedule…"

Simon grins and nods some more. "Yeah, that would be pretty sweet." Then again, that's sort of how he's travelling now, with the shipments coming in and out thanks to the Ferrymen. A helicopter ride might be more scenic, though. "What do you mean by stronger routes, exactly?"

Cardinal leans forward a bit, then, resting one arm on his knee. "Well, right now, there's the smugglers and the occasional ferry that costs a fuckin' arm and a leg to use - sometimes literally if you go with the smugglers, but that's neither here nor there…" A shake of his head, "If we can get the heliport going, and a floating airstrip, then we can start moving in supplies in bulk. I've got a guy set up to start handling distribution. We can use that money to start hirin' security… and start re-establishing some order of our own, at least on this side of the island."

Simon considers this possibility and says, "Yeah, well it sounds like a good idea, Cardinal. You know I'm on board if I can help." He lifts his shoulders in a shrug, as if he's not exactly sure where he might fit in, just that he wants to help. "You know I think this Island needs a lot of work. The helipad could help all that out. Who's your guy?"

"Guy named Tucker," Cardinal's head tips in a bit of a nod over, "It's… well, going to be messy, though. The syndicates have a hell of a grip on this island." He scratches to the side of his neck, noting, "We're gonna need everyone we can get."

Simon grins and rolls his eyes. "Right. Rocket's dad." Simon thinks about this for a moment and figures the name that was dropped could have been a worse one. It looks like he's pondering something hard for a moment, but abandons the thought in the end. "Yeah? You're gonna have to fill me in on exactly what bad is what around here sometime." Because, really, it would help a kid out. "Just let me know what I can do."

Cardinal's head tilts a bit to one side, regarding Simon for a moment before asking casually, "Depends. What can you do? And what d'you want to do?"

It's a question that's been asked a lot of Simon lately and also one that he doesn't entirely know how to answer. Still, he gives it a shot. "What I want is to help clean this place up. I know I'm being broad, but it's true, As for what I can do, well, that's something I'm still figuring out." He pauses a moment and ponders. "I'm pretty good at math. Well, I means really good. I could make sure our funds are in order and you can trust me not to steal any of it." The kid grins, pauses, and then adds. "I'm also pretty good with a sidearm, apparently."

"Finally got someone to teach you, eh?" A grin from the criminal settled into the chair, "Good. Don't pull it unless you're willing an' ready to use it. First rule of carrying a gun." He leans back again, stretching out his legs and draping both arms over his chest as he considers the matter, "Well, we can find something for you to do. Numbers're always good, I can set you up with Tuck once we get shit running. Also… recruitment."

There's a smirk as Simon nods. "Yeah, I had a guy here show me actually. And I know. I'm not ready to use it on anyone just yet. Stick me in the same room with the monster, though, and I'll make sure to blow his head off once and for all." The kid seems scarily serious at that for a moment, but is quick to change the subject. "Recruitment? I can handle that, too."

"We'll have to see to that, now that we're back," Cardinal says in serious tones, nodding a bit back towards the kids, "You, me, Zu, Jake… it'll be a start." He quirks a smile, then, "Problem is finding people we can trust. Who actually want to work to get shit on this island a bit better, but who don't just want t'bring the government in here to do it."

There's a laugh at that from Simon, who shakes his head and says, "Good luck, man. Those people are few and far between. I'll keep my eyes and ears open, though." He settles back in the couch and places the pillow in his arms behind his head to relax. "You mentioned security before. Who do you expect to try and stop you?"

"I'll settle for 'trust' then, really," Cardinal admits in wry tones, his head shaking a little, "Oh, I'm sure there'll be plenty. Linderman's people, if we can't come to a settlement with them, they'll be the biggest problem. I'm hoping to… work something out, but I don't know how that'll go."

Simon ponders for a moment and then nods. "I see. Linderman owns this place doesn't he? Wouldn't he be interested in seeing people try to help out Staten in other ways?" He doesn't know much about the man's criminal side, only his apparent philanthropy.

"I suspect he's more interested in whatever fills his purse," Cardinal snorts in derision, "He's a coward. I'm planning on talking to one of his representatives, and… turning them around to my way of thinking. In the long run, it's more profitable, and looks better for PR."

Less skilled in the persuasive arts, Simon just nods and figures it all sounds good to him. "Right, well good luck with that. I know a guy who might be interested in helping out. He was in prison once, so I doubt he's buddy buddy with Big Brother these days, and he's a decent guy." Another shrug and a yawn. "Brian, too. I'll make him help."

"Oh?" A brow lifts, as Cardinal looks over. "What…" He stifles another yawn, fingers pressing over his mouth, "Mmmf. What's this guy's name?"

"His name is Sebastian. We go to the same gym over on the main island." Yeah, Simon goes to the gym. Surprise! "He thinks he wants his life to be boring, but I can tell that's a bunch of bull."

"Maybe I can talk to him sometime," Cardinal braces a hand to the arm of the chair, the bag of nuts snagged in his other hand before he pushes himself up with a grunt, "Anyway, I gotta go find one've my crash spots and get some shut-eye, I'm wasted. Just wanted to make sure shit was all goin' well here."

Simon nods and stands to show Cardinal out. "I appreciate it. I'll mention things to Sebastian and if he's interested I'll put the two of you together." He grins a lifts a hand to wave. "It's good seeing you, man. Don't be a stranger."

Cardinal heads, this time, for the actual door. "I'll be around," he says with a shake of his head, "Just keep an eye on shit for now. Let me know if you hear or see anything weird…"


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