Of Empaths and Eclairs

Participants:

abby_icon.gif veronica3_icon.gif

Scene Title Of Empaths and Eclairs
Synopsis Veronica stops by Abby's new business to ask some questions regarding an Institute investigation.
Date October 6, 2010

Oh So Sweet


There's no strudel nightmares going on in the back. Sweet just opened up not long ago and there's a scattering of people inside who are content with their choices of having dessert for lunch instead of an honest to go meal. Abigail's not in the front, she's in the back with an apron on and dumping measured ingredients into a big stand mixer, getting ready to prep some of the things for the next day that need a day to make.

This is where flame haired Brenda has directed Veronica to when she came in looking for Abigail. Denim skirt, raspberry pink shirt and blonde hair back under a hat to keep stray hairs out of the way, she's concentrating with a grim line to her lips at following the recepie taped to the shelving up further. back here is the smell of yeast, the heat from the ovens that go, an ice cream maker in the back churning hard to make some fresh ice cream.

"Hey nun! Feeb is here" Brenda hollers to get her attention before disappearing, leaving Veronica in the back kitchen. No other employee's right now. Perhaps not the smartest thing for Brenda to have said, it makes Abby's back straighten and look over with no small amount of trepidation that it's someone here to jibber about the technology around her ankle. But one glance and it's Veronica. "Agent Sawyer" Surprise. "Don't suppose you came because you want to taste the eclairs…"

Veronica's eyes dart curiously here and there, taking in all the appliances hard at work before the agent smiles at Abby, coming closer when the blonde woman doesn't take off running or wield the detached blade from an Osker food processor at her. "Everything looks fabulous. Congratulations on the new business. I hear that's not all that's new these days," Veronica says vaguely. No, she doesn't know Abby's married, but she does know about the new ability.

The words are sincere and Veronica smiles, though her eyes seem sad and apologetic — not for what she's here to do, but simply for what she is. If there's any "feeb" less popular than a Company agent, it's an Institute agent, these days.

"I'm actually here just to ask some questions about the Nite Owl the other day — the day former agent Elle Bishop electrocuted you? I'm very sorry she hurt you — I've been on the receiving end of that twice now, myself, so trust me, I know it's not fun. We're investigating the case and I just wanted to ask you about what you saw, felt, anything you may have noticed that maybe Bishop didn't. We don't need someone creating mass hysteria out in the city — there's enough of that as it is, right?"

"They say, that it hurts less each time you're electrocuted. Maybe if she ends up doing it a second time, I won't have to stay in the hospital overnight, shit hit me pretty hard, my heart took to a bit to settle down and my skin's still pretty tender. She fried my monitor too but, not like I need that these days."

Institute Agent she may be, she's also likely the one that passed on the information about the others. A wooden spoon is plucked up and held out. "You can stir, while you talk and ask me questions. Earn whatever you're gonna walk out of here with in a pink box" An apron is held out too, in case she doesn't want to chance getting messy. "Are you referring to the positive Evo test ro the change in last name? Those are the only things new. Both are.. well, one is still kept pretty close to the heart, the other is" She gestures to her ankle. "I'm still waiting to find out what I'll end up getting. It doesn't look pretty though. So. Ask your questions Veronica. I don't know that I can give you more than I gave her"

A wry look is given to the spoon and the apron, but Veronica takes both, wrapping the apron around her sleek gray suit. "Okay, but if your patrons complaint about lumps in the batter, don't say I didn't warn you," she murmurs, a touch of humor in her husky voice. "Name change, too? And a matter of the heart? Holy shit, did you get married?" Her eyes widen, and one hand goes without thinking to her throat where she once wore a necklace with an engagement ring on it — though it's no longer there. There's a slight furrowing of her brows — a touch of envy perhaps, but she smiles warmly.

"Congratulations. Who's the lucky guy?" She begins to stir the batter, letting Abby answer the personal small talk questions before going into the reason she's here. "And Bishop's no longer with us — I'd guess you already know that. But if not… you can pass it around, right? Let others know to scratch her off the list."

"Robert Caliban" A familiar name if you read the news enough about all things Linderman. No rings on her finger but the necklace hanging out has two rings in addition to the cross that adorns the chain. Simple and understated, there is no gaudy giant diamond here. "She's not?" Abigail is surprised at such and nods. "I'll let the people who need to know, know. Do you know where she's gone? So that I can pass that around. She visited me in the hospital, with regards to the diner. In truth Veronica I don't know much. I had just come in a few minutes before and I was helping out Natasha with coffee. I can tell you that Elle was there and a guy who was seeing to disembowling another guy. There was a teenager too apparently, I didn't remember him, but he remembered me. he showed up here yesterday"

"A teenager?" Veronica repeats, stirring at the batter and considering the scant information of the file she'd seen. The man who wielded the knife had fled, along with a few other patrons — she can't remember a teenager among the statements given. "Did he give you a name? I'm not looking to find or detain anyone who isn't the cause of the problem, I swear that to you, Abby, but if I'm going to get anything accomplished while working where I am, I need to be productive." She's not sure if the vague wording's double meaning will make itself clear, but she certainly can't say more than that.

"This teenager give you a name when he visited you? And can you tell me what you remember of the incident — when did you first notice anything seeming off?"

"No name, but…" She's thinking. "Red and white letter jacket, he's in high school, I didn't catch the name on the back, but… He did win like… what did he say, like eleven hundred dollars on cash cab the other day, he said. He was here just a little half past four so, maybe if one of the other shops or the traffic camera's were on you might be able to catch a video of him to compare with uhh the cash cab thing" She rattles off a description of him. "He thought I worked there and here, when he came in. That's the only reason that I can place him there are all"

As for the rest Abby shakes her head. "I get that I was out for most of it. I was pouring coffee for Elle, and just… I got hit with all this fear that she knew what I could do and that.. she'd drag me off to the institute. I didn't tell her that, but.. I dropped the coffee pot and just ran Veronica, just ran past the two who were facing off, hoping I could make the door but I didn't. She got me and I that's all I remember. Someone near the door. I was afraid they were gonna try and stop me. Definitely someone near the door in black clothing. Was there no video at the diner?"

Red and white letterman jacket limits the number of schools the kid goes to, and Cash Cab is an unexpected bonus tip. "That's great, Abby. Cash Cab has to do releases to show the footage — I'm sure they had to have gotten his name and signature, so I can find him that way. Thanks." The knife wielder is another issue. "Can you describe the guy who stabbed the other guy? You ever seen him before?"

'Crazy blue eyes and scruff, not very… tall. That's all I remember of him and even less of the guy who he was stabbing at. I'm sorry, real sorry that I can't tell you more, you at least got something on a teenager that was there though I really don't even remember serving the kid. At all" Which is baffling given that she's one with a penchant for names to faces. "Unless I really hit my head or something"

Veronica shakes her head, setting the spoon across the bowl and removing the apron, folding it and setting it on the counter. "Don't be sorry at all. I appreciate your help," the agent says, smiling again. Her eyes look weary, dark circles beneath suggesting a lack of sleep, but that's the status quo for Veronica Sawyer.

"That's all I'm really here to ask. I saw your name on the file, and thought I'd start with you, see your new business and all." She smoothes her blazer, eyes dropping for a moment before she looks back up into Abby's face. "I hope all our mutual acquaintances are doing well — as well as can be expected? I haven't seen any of them in forever." Code for 'since the Institute shut us down.'

"I haven't seen much of anyone. Being out on bail and tethered with a GPS doesn't really make visiting them all a pretty good thing. But.. from what I know, folks are doing okay. They've showed up here and such and hopefully, hopefully the city isn't going to implode too badly come the eighth and I won't regret having opened"

Which seems to be what everyone is waiting to see. If the city goes up in flames. 'Hey can.. I lean on you for a favor?"

The agent's brows wrinkles at the mention of the 8th. Clearly whatever she saw wasn't good either. "Hopefully someone's learning from what we all saw, but God knows we haven't learned from the past — why would we learn from the future, right?" she says a touch cynically. "I'd say to say hi and all, but you know, probably best not to temp fate." She shrugs. None of them were that close to her before the Company fell, but suddenly having them underground while she's on the government's payrolls makes her feel the loss.

"What can I help you with?" she asks, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, tipping her head curiously at Abby.

"I lost my job at the hospital and I might loose more depending on the outcome of this or that. I might need folks who can… vouch, for me, that i'm not some horrible person who's gonna flame up in a heartbeat and run through the streets torching everything. Who's… just.. a character reference" She looks over at the agent, taking the bowl she'd mixed and satisfied, carted it to a set of muffin tins to start scooping.

Veronica's lips quirk and she nods. "Of course. It's the least I can do, for all you've helped me with in the past year and whatever change, Abby. Write me down as a reference. I'll vouch for you anytime," the agent says. "Hopefully the suppression drug might be approved for public use by the time anything becomes too much of an issue. I would hope it'd be an alternative to anything more… restricting." Like being shoved in a coffin to be housed in a facility with a tube up her nose, for instance.

"Thanks for the information, Abby, and good luck with everything — you have a lot of new stuff on your plate." She glances at the muffin tins, and smirks. "No pun intended."

"There's already negation drugs, but I think you already know that. They're just, they're a lot of pills and you don't want to try getting off of them because they are a horror, but.. when you're working in an ambulance, you have to do what you had to do to try and not.. burn people or your rig up. Probably shouldn't have said it but… I would hope that I won't need them by whenever it comes out. I can turn it off, I can turn it on. I would hope it's good enough for when it counts"
WATCH> Manhattan has connected.

Veronica nods. "Well, go ahead and put me as a reference. If you haven't killed me yet, I'd say you're about as even keeled as they come, Abby," the agent quips. "Thanks again for the information. I better go start trying to track down the teenager, and gotta go hit up Tartarus. Same thing happened there a week later, it looks like. Best guess is an empath of some sort."

The agent waves and moves to the kitchen's exit, leaving the sweet warm smells of fresh baked goods behind.

"Tell melissa you're a friend of mine Veronica. That i'll vouch for you. Otherwise.. Mel might not talk to you. She's gone through the same thing I have lately" She grabs a box, tossing some of the baked stuff not long out of the over and boxable, closing the lid with a few tucks. 'And take these. You're too skinny as my momma would say. It'll be proof too that you know me, if she decides not to call"


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