Participants:
| Scene Title | Lori de Lune |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Cat makes her way to Linderman's casino, specifically the restaurant, to find Lorraine part Deux. |
| Date | May 14, 2010 |
The Corinthian: Chambery Restaurant
Chambery is every bit as elegant as a French restaurant housed in the swanky Corinthian Hotel promises to be. The expansive venue is entered through a pair of mirrored French doors opposite each other, decorated in fresh white paint, and rich tones that give an impression of warmth. Gold is a backdrop for clusters of roses damask, red, and white, making up the plush carpet beneath the feet of chairs and diners both. White table clothes are draped over circular tables spaced about the room, each set for two with elegant glassware, more silverware than the average person knows what to do with, and a small silver-based lantern with a frosted half-globe encasing the flame.
Crystal chandeliers hang down, their flames providing further illumination to the room and dancing off of a canopy so perfect a white that it gives the illusion that the ceiling could be made of porcelain. Small, flat lights are dotted strategically amongst ornate moulding in the ceiling, giving a brighter splash to the room, affording the ambiance of a candle-lit room without the disadvantage of dimness.
Beige and warm tan create an elaborate patterned wallpaper, the negative space leaving one unsure of which is the dominant colour, beneath a banded frieze of white and gold. Candelabras further illume the space, settled into contrasting wood panelling that separates alternating panels of wallpaper and large, gilded mirrors. Above one such mirror is a beautiful painting of a woman with dark ringlets and eyes the colour of cobalt. The same woman can be found in another painting hung on one of the papered walls, dressed in an electric blue gown that would have been fashionable in the 1800's. Members of the Linderman Group who study the women depicted in the paintings may find her oddly familiar.
The restaurant has seen better days. Not to say it doesn't retain the interior, but it's set up more like a cafeteria, with food being passed out from tables on the side, piled onto trays. It's not the French Restaurant that once served from an exclusive high class menu, but it's still the best that the chef and his kitchen staff could offer— for free. To the thousands of people forced to sleep six people to a room, in cramped conditions.
But the conditions in here are better than most places. It's between meals, lunch and dinner, but there's stragglers around, and various other folks sitting at tables munching on crackers and cut cheese, or sliced meat. The hot food has left, and hasn't resurfaced, that portion of the meal saved for an hour later. There's the smell of it coming in from the kitchen, though.
It's taken some time to get here, after she left the Garden, by snowmobile and whatever else was necessary. Her Antarctic-quality parka and other gear, the jacket bright red and marked with both USMC and George Washington emblems just like the one she let Colette borrow, is still on. Cat has no qualms about tracking snow and anything else on her feet through Daniel Linderman's establishment. It's a contempt borne not just from his role with the Company, but also from him conspiring with Angela Petrelli to let the city be nuked.
She's unarmed, any weaponry safely stashed elsewhere, and trekking through to the kitchen. Hands push open the door or doors before her and she steps in, quietly letting eyes wander in search of Lorraine Fournier the Sequel.
Lorraine Fournier, the Sequel.
There's an assortment of staff cooking for tonight's dinner, forced to cook for a buffet rather than their usual detail. A tiny chef yells instructions all in French as he moves around, taste testing. The instructions are mostly food related, how they need more herbs! or less pepper! More salt! And then the occassional, "«Just because we had a polar bear in our kitchen is no excuse for serving these people bad food!»"
And then he spots Cat, and points a large wooden spoon at her. "«Madame, the kitchen is off limits to customers.»" Or refugees. "If you come back in an hour we will have amazing food ready for you to eat," he insures in English.
But her eyes probably don't stick to him, and instead catch a woman working at a stove, on some kind of soup to go along with the dinner. Her hair is pulled back out of her face, shorter than the Lorraine that Cat knows, but the eyes, the face, even visible skin blemishes— all are identical.
She hears, and understands the language. Face visible because her parka hood is lowered, the features show surprise. Polar bear? Damn. But it is refreshing to see the chef still intent on serving food as good as possible. That gourmet sensibilities don't die in the Day After Tomorrow. But her expression soon shifts to one of annoyance. Or being offended. "Madame?" she fumes. "I'm only twenty-fucking-seven." Her head shakes, and steps carry her forward, no further attention paid to the chef.
She attempts to approach Lorraine calmly, without her becoming spooked about someone coming to find her in the kitchen, and should she get close enough to speak without anyone else hearing, a two-word question is voiced. "Lori Moon?"
In her get up, she's lucky he recognized her as female. But as she is insulted, he looks abashed and apologetic, immediately saying something in apology in French, even if her attention has gone elsewhere.
Lorraine, or Lori Moon, pauses in the stirring of her soup and glances behind her, eyes narrowing, forehead wrinkling in suspicion. It's a very similar expression to one that Lorraine made in the past, but it has something different about it. "Where do you know that name from?" she asks in a far thicker French accent than the one used by her double.
"«I know the name from you, Lori La Lune»," Cat replies. "«You told me to use it for recognition as being sent by yourself, so I can take you to have something of a… reunion»." Her voice is kept quiet, still intended for only the two of them being privy to conversation. With a quiet chuckle, she adds "«You've got shorter hair than yourself, and have a thicker accent»."
"«When she told me not to do anything drastic, I didn't think she would,»" Lorraine intunes quietly in French, waving to the chef as if to indicate that she knows the guest in the kitchen, and not to attack her.
"«She is tracking snow into my kitchen!»" the chef exclaims, as he goes to fetch a mop, muttering and grumbling under his breath.
"«She wouldn't tell me much over the phone. Are you going to be setting up a meeting»?"
A brief glance goes the chef's way, Cat being unapologetic about tracking up Linderman's kitchen, then eyes return to Lorraine Deux. "«I wouldn't say this is drastic. I was with you and your daughter, she said the weather has made things hard. So I volunteered to get and take you to her. Presuming, or course, you're willing to go»."
The food being stirred is briefly eyed, then the gaze wanders to take in other items being prepared.
It's not the high quality food that they might have served on menu, but it's still good quality. "This is drastic to us," Lorraine says, switching flawlessly to English, before she calls to one of the chefs and motions them over. "Take over for me. I just found out my sister is in another shelter in the city and she's sick, I will apologize to the chef." The fellow cook takes over, and Lorraine starts to remove her apron, before she looks over at Cat.
"I will go with you. Give me a minute to resign." This is probably bad timing to resign, but they actually have extra cooks right now, due to people offering to assist just to have something to do while trapped in a building with thousands of other people. With that, she walks away to find the chef and share quick words, before making her way back over. "I assume you have a better mode of transportation than feet?"
She waits in observant silence, until Lorraine rejoins her, making her quiet commentary then. "The situation is drastic, that's agreed upon, with the weather as it is and not knowing when it will end." Cat starts to walk for the exit, glancing back to see she's followed or not, while replying "Snowmobile. Do you need extreme weather gear?"
Someday, Cat resolves, she must not only come here to count cards and take Linderman for as much as possible, but to also eat the restaurant's food and pay him for it with that money.
"That, new friend, is an interesting story," Lorraine says, as she moves to go acquire her things from her room— at least a bag worth— and then take the trip across town to reconnect… with herself.
"I like interesting stories," Cat replies. She has a few of her own to share with Lorraine Deux, whom she concludes was created before Lorraine Prime was captured by the Institute, based on lack of memory. If need be, she will pitstop to provide cold weather gear. The trip to the Garden will be longer than it is under normal conditions.
They have plenty of time for sharing interesting stories.