Participants:
Scene Title | Meet The Boyfriend |
---|---|
Synopsis | Berlin introduces Lucille to her boyfriend. |
Date | October 16, 2018 |
A Coffee Shop: NYC Safe Zone
This event has come with many warnings. While Berlin has explained that Lucille is the closest thing she has to family, she has also noted that she can be… intense. Sitting at a table outside a little coffee/tea place in the Zone, she waits for her two guests to arrive, passing the time with a book sitting in front of her. Of course, she is too nervous to read it, so she's mostly been fluttering the pages under her thumb and trying not to look up and down the street every five seconds.
Luce got only one warning. The one where Berlin expressly told her that she likes this guy and to please not scare him away.
She isn't sure how well any of these warnings have taken.
The only reason that Rory wasn’t the first one there would likely be because he got stuck doing something one of his many odd jobs, working in construction in a place constantly under construction would do that. He had warned he would be working that day, but would do his best to get off early— alas, his supervisor had other ideas. And he couldn’t exactly call ahead, either. But still, he hurried over after cleaning up, having brought a change of clothes to the site, and most dirt doesn’t actually stick on him when he doesn’t want it to. It was for the sweat, more than anything else.
When he arrives, he spots her after a few moments and hurries over, politely weaving through anyone who might be in their way, but seeing that she’s currently at the table alone. That is at least a relief. He will have a few moments to catch his breath, cause he did take the warnings serious. A friend close to family. That was more than he could really introduce her to. He checks his watch as he sits down, relieved that he’s pretty much right on time more so than early. “Have you been waiting long?”
Not so long after Rory has entered the place, Lucille herself walks in through the door. She most certainly was not watching from across the street with the dark sunglasses she wears now on her face. Having "occupied" Berlin and Rory on their mosh pit fest date she knew who to look for, the faint smell of cigarettes trail behind her. It's been years since she's had one but things haven't been the most stable as of late. Spending more nights in the Safe Zone allowed her ample time to arrive but something made her wait to come in, she's trying to be on her best behavior.
Slowly removing the shades to reveal pale blue eyes and slip them into her asymmetrical blazer, the tail ends of the garment flair in the gentle wind generated by her movements, "Am I late?" Just to break the ice, as she comes to stand directly behind Rory and looks down at both of them. A easy smile spreads across Lucille's bare lips and then she shows some teeth, hello new man friend of Burr's.
Berlin’s face brightens with a smile when she sees Rory. And once he’s seated, she leans over to greet him with a kiss. Just a little one, because she knows Lucille’s habit of chaperoning now. “Not long at all,” she says as she settles back into her chair. She’s in the better position to see Luce approach, and she greets her friend with a wave.
“No, no. Everyone’s on time.” An auspicious start. “Luce, have a seat. Rory, this is Lucille. Lucille, Rory.” She hasn’t missed Lucille’s flash of fangs, which is why she looks at her friend with a slightly pleading expression. Please be nice.
When the young woman speaks, Rory starts to stand, in the way that polite young men are taught to do when a lady approaches the table. At least he doesn’t move as if to pull the chair out for her, but he stays half-way up until she sits down, even. “Not late at all,” he assures, offering his hand out toward her for shaking. “How do you do?” For a moment he had wanted to try and speak how he tries to at the market, closer to the American dialects while failing to sound right at the same time, but he decided not to bother.
This was Berlin’s friend, after all. Friend and near family. He would treat her almost the same as he had Berlin, originally.
"Perfect, good to meet you Rory." Shaking his hand with a firm grip before slipping into a chair that's free, her foot discreetly snaps out and nudges Berlin's. I'll behave. If they had a telepathic link she would funnel that thought through to her best friend. Instead she turns her most charming smile on, the one she used at all the parties and gatherings for the modeling industry. For all the intense nature she's had over the last few years she knows how to win someone over, her success in her former career depended on it.
"Are we drinking tea or getting some shots?" This isn't a bar so she's poking fun and she laughs lightly, "Had some errands to run nearby so I was in the area," a sly way to let Berlin know she was around. Around. No big. "So you're the man Berlin's told me so much about, all good things I promise." That smile hasn't left her face.
“I’m not sure they serve the tea Lucille Style,” Berlin says with a chuckle. They all drink at Wolfhound HQ. It comes with the stress of the job, the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat. Still, few of them do so with Luce’s enthusiasm. “So I already told Rory you’re in Wolfhound with me. And I already told Luce about the stall in the market. So. I have no idea what to make you guys talk about.”
At least she’s honest? The topics that come to mind are heavy. Lucille’s time in the war. Rory’s home country in its state of political unrest. A little much for a first meeting, perhaps.
“She’s told me a few things as well.” Though Rory doesn’t mention the all good things part, though it’s only because he’s half joking with a soft grin. He doesn’t joke often, really, and usually not at other’s expenses. But not everything said might not have been good. And he can recognize those be nice looks she had cast. With that, he sits down, nodding in agreement that the tea would probably be the best choice. At least with tea you know the water has been boiled.
What to talk about. It seems that he decides to go with a topic that has sometimes elicited groans from those who know anything about anyone. “I’ve heard my country has made a right mess of a lot of your stories with our terrible TV show based on them. No characters based on you have shown up, I hope?”
"You and Devon always bringing me to these dry places, you'd think they want me to die of the thirst." The last bit said to Rory with a grin. Faking a choking noise in the back of her throat, Lucille is clearly poking fun but as of late there has been a "healthy" doubling down on the booze, something Berlin knows.
At the notion of Lucille or anyone looking like or acting like her on the screen makes her snort, one because at one point it might have been her dream to be that famous but instead she's grateful she never hit that spotlight, it would have ruined her presently. "Not famous enough for that. My dad though, maybe." Definitely. The auburn haired woman leans back in her chair, "I spent a lot of time in the UK and Europe for my previous profession. Where are you from exactly?"
Lucille has definitely not looked at Berlin as she says this, she's very very nonchalant, being a former member of one of the most superficial industries in the world makes her sheepish at times and feeling sheepish makes her feel like that girl she was before Alaska, the war, everything. It hurt to feel like that girl, it was embarrassing that she sometimes missed her.
“Have you been watching that show? I think they merged your dad and Avi into this super grizzled Clint Eastwood type character. I still can’t decide if it’s amazing or horrifying.” Berlin chuckles a little, before adding for Rory’s benefit, “Avi is one of our bosses. I think he secretly loves that show. Same with a lot of the former Ferrymen.”
As for Lucille’s former profession, Berlin tilts her head but doesn’t press. She knows, of course, but with many things that upset Lucille, she doesn’t quite understand why. And this doesn’t seem like the moment to ask.
“Lieutenant Allegre says we all should travel,” she notes, since her own contributions to this conversation would be decidedly downbeat, “I keep waiting for a mission to send us to France or somewhere like that.” Because obviously she isn’t taking time off to travel.
”I don’t get good reception in the Park,” Rory responds in answer, to explain why he hasn’t watched much of it. “But sometimes one of the people down at the Market will do a viewing night.” Though those were usually a few weeks after the episode had actually aired, no doubt. Getting live television in the Safe Zone was still fuzzy sometimes. “I’m honestly surprised they’re not being… worse with it.” After all, it was produced in a country that certainly had a differing opinion of a lot of things involving the war. Maybe those who actually made it were more sympathetic. He knew there were those who were sympathetic to the Ferry, after all.
“Though I guess the gray morals of pretty much everyone involved doesn’t paint everyone in it in the best light, either.” Gray morals and all the jumping on each other all the time. Surely they weren’t all sleeping with each other half that much.
Surely.
But then she mentions possibly being sent away on a mission to France and his train of thought wanders off somewhere else and he goes quiet, suddenly looking for the menu to look at it.
"Well we could hit up Africa," even with the chaos that was internationally it was always some place that Lucille had wanted to go herself. The sands.. the ruins.. the history there. Shaking her head, she comes back to the present moment and smiles at Rory, "It's not exactly our favorite thing to watch. Lots of Wolfhound were.." a look over to Berlin and then shrugging, "Pretty heavily connected to the source material." The real life events. "The Major… I don't think anyone has dared to ask her opinion." A light laugh as she looks over the menu as well.
"So you can manipulate rocks or the terrain as a whole?" The question is quick and casually asked as she looks over the menu. She's always assessing threat levels, a habit from the war. "Berlin hinted a little at your ability. It always.. interests me, working with outside elements." Because her ability works with the inside … of people.
Berlin shakes her head emphatically at the very notion that someone might as Hana what she thinks of a trashy show based on her own history. That can be someone else’s hill to die on. But she also reaches a hand over to Rory, giving him a reassuring squeeze. No one would be sending them as far as Europe or Africa, after all. “They are an easy way to show… how scary a force of pro-evolved can be. If you want to read it that way.”
They all did what they had to, after all.
When Luce starts to ask questions, Berlin gives her a sidelong look— tinted with caution. Who knows what might come out of her mouth. It’s one of the things Berlin likes about her. And she’s not wrong that there were hints of what Rory can do, given that her quarters at the bunker is dotted with stone figures that she seemed to take up collecting after she met him.
Yeah, Rory is starting to think this had been a bad topic, but he had thought it was funny and Berlin had told him that Lucille had an interesting sense of humor. But as Berlin takes his hand and gives him a reassuring squeaks, he looks back up at her and gives that small half-smile that still touches his eyes. At least for her. When he looks back at Lucille, he nods. “Yeah. It started out I could just shape them, but turned into more than that later. I could actually move them, too.”
It’s not that he’s afraid to demonstrate here, because he does all the time at the Market, but he still glances around a little before his free hand reaches to just… pull the stone bracelet off the wrist of the hand that Berlin holds. His bracelets seem made completely of reddish colored stone, polished smooth, with no seams at all. And when he pulled it off it just seemed to move around his wrist like putty.
It remains deformed as he holds it, then he lets it go and it just… hovers there.
“I can use it on concrete and marble too, which helps with repairing buildings. Metals I can’t work with, not processed, or asphalt — probably cause it’s petrol based, but I can repair sidewalks just by running my hands over it. And I like to use my ability to go rock climbing. I can make my own handholds.”
Eyebrows raise a tick as Rory displays his ability and her gaze slides over to Berlin, useful. She wonders how Berlin's gift interacts with his. An experiment she'd encouraged soon. "Have you ever constructed say a shelter? If enough raw material was laying around?" Ever the tactical planner, Lucille leans in with clear interest into Rory's ability. Rock climbing? "I've done a Little Rock climbing but not as much as I would like, we should all go. I'll bring a friend." Look Berlin, she's trying. A sweet smiles crosses her lips, she's excited to see Rory's ability more in action.
"I've always been a little envious of people who can affect the environment." The possibilities seemed endless given enough energy and the right methods used. Luce is impressed. Stamp Of approval. "I hope i haven't seemed overbearing at all, Berlin is.." a quick peek at her friend. "Very special to me and my family as well. We look out for her." The implication stands there as well as the apology for any weird behavior, she's nothing if not direct in this moment.
"I'm happy she bumped into a cool guy like you."
A+
Berlin smiles at the demonstration, obviously still a little taken by it. But when Luce gives her that look and starts asking very practical questions, she lifts an eyebrow. "Luce," she says. She doesn't say 'stop trying to recruit my boyfriend', but her look says it well enough.
The sweet smile does not help.
By the time Lucille is through her very nice and friendly statement, Berlin is on high alert. Code Red. Defcon One. "How about we get something to eat? They said they have soup, and might even have biscuits today," she says in an attempt to distract Lucille from whatever she's winding up to. "And I'm starving." Starving, Lucille.
At first, Rory doesn’t seem to understand what the woman might be hinting about how he could use his ability. It isn’t until Berlin pipes in with a Luce that he thinks back on statements from before. Oh, was she trying to see how his ability could be used for the things they did? “We could certainly go rock climbing sometime,” he offers after a moment, choosing not to comment too much on the other things. He actually hadn’t thought much about if he could make a cave— presumably he could. It would take time, though, and putting up a tent would be far more efficient and even quicker.
“I am glad that we ran into each other too,” is what he does say after a moment, a glance in Berlin’s direction before he busies his attention on molding the rock back into a bracelet again. “Let’s get you some food,” he continues with a nod, reaching for the menu.
That didn’t go too badly.