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| Scene Title | Of Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | The Queen's oracle often brings more questions than answers, but she offers perspectives that have not been considered. |
| Date | Jan 27, 2011 |
Piccoli's Deli
It's the late morning but the city has been awake for hours.. wait.. does it ever really sleep? Anyway, the restaurant isn't that full at this hour but there are enough people where there is plenty of ambient noise, talking, laughing, swearing. You know, the usual of a place to eat in New York.
In the corner of the restaurant sits a woman in a booth, her long raven dark hair is curly today, she didn't have the time to straighten it. Most of it done into a pretty good bun, only a few wisps of hair peek out as always. The woman taps her finger on the surface of the table, a glass of water untouched is beside her. She takes frequent stops of tapping her finger to whisper down at something in her lap. Her messenger bag.
The woman in question, Eve Mas is dressed for the weather today. Still a dress as always this one a light blue one that falls to just about her calves. Black boots cover her feet and a pair of plaid black and blue socks can be seen that reach up and pass the hem of the dress. On the seat next to her, a thick dark grey wool coat sits. Well, someone will be proud of her, hmm? Light makeup adorns her face, just a bit of lip gloss and eye shadow.. okay and some mascara though she doesn't usually need it.
For all intents and purposes, Eve looks like the woman she was while staying in the Institute. She looks sane.
When the door opens, Elisabeth Harrison is talking on the phone in a low, calm tone. Giving the person on the other end further instructions, she patiently waits for whatever they are telling her, nodding a bit here and there, and then says, "I'll be back to base shortly. Picking up something for lunch." Because she's tired of eating in the mess hall. Hanging up the phone, she joins the queue at the counter and asks for a cheesesteak, heavy on the onions and no peppers. After she pays she takes her cup to the fountain to fill it, relying on pop for her caffeine hit this time. And then she starts threading her way through the tables to find a place to sit and wait for her hot sandwich.
"Hellooooo!"
Comes the loud greeting from the table, startling a couple that is sitting just a few tables over from Eve. The singer waves her arms over towards Liz and a big smiles crosses her lips. Well.. would you look at that. She can barely contain her excitement, she's always so happy to see Elisabeth. The FRONTLINE officer may notice that one of Eve's hands is bandaged, a few scratches up her arms as well. Nothing to serious though, Eve has done worst to herself.
The dark haired woman bounces her bag up and down in her lap, cooing to it as she grins and waits for her friend to come over, stopping the bouncing for a moment. She looks up at the menu. "Do you think they have milkshakes here?" she asks absently Liz may or may not be in earshot to respond.
The blonde's head comes around, automatically just cataloging the situation at hand, and then she double-takes at the sight of Eve. Looking…. better than she's looked in a while! Altering her path, she brings her drink to the table and slides into a seat. "Hey, lady," Elisabeth greets her with an easy smile. Of all the people that Liz gets to see, Eve is one of the ones that she appreciates the most — if only because the woman is just… sweet. "I don't think they do, but I'm not honestly sure," she admits as she settles, slipping out of the black jacket and hanging it on her chair. "How're you?"
"Much better actually, I've been taking my meds." Eve finishes the last bit in a whisper and she nods to herself, obviously proud. Speaking of medication, a beeping noise comes from inside Eve's coat and she yelps looking around before realizing it's her. Reaching into the coat pocket she pulls out a recently purchased smart phone. "Ah, I'm beeping." The woman says as she taps something there and then there and presto, beeping gone!
"It's my reminder," for what is explained when Eve reaches into her bag, is that an animal noise being made in there? And she withdraws a bottle of pills. The Commonwealth logo and such all over it, taking two out she pops them in her mouth and swallows down a bit of water. "They help keep me more lucid then normal." Looking down at her phone where she placed it on the table, she looks back up at Elisabeth. "These things actually think! They're smart. Amazing isn't it?" The artist takes a moment to tap something else out on the phone and then she's looking at Liz with a wide grin, "Look at this." Pressing something on the phone, a loud noise.. of a fart emits from the phone. The couple seated near them looking over their shoulders as Eve cracks up with laughter. Gets them everytime.
"How are things, what's new?" This is all pleasantries for Eve, she already knows. But it's always polite to ask. "You met that handsome blonde guy, he's quite the looker. Though he needs to pick a better direction for his life." She muses softly before gulping down more water, there goes the bouncing of the lap again.
Elisabeth is forced to laugh — she can't help it. Eve's playing fart jokes! I mean, really. She glances toward the table of people staring and merely shrugs. Whatever. The fact that Eve's voluntarily taking the medications … is good news. Isn't it? In truth, the blonde isn't entirely certain. It's a choice, though, and it's Eve's choice. She very carefully encases their table in a bubble that lowers the volume of what others can hear of the conversation and she smiles.
"Things are…. going along about as usual," Elisabeth admits. That good, huh? She reaches up and shoves a hand through her loose hair absently. "Guess I'm just trying to enjoy the ride." She props her chin on her hand and looks at the precog. "Do I dare ask what's presaged the use of the meds?" Eve never really bothered before. "Not that I'm complaining," she adds with a faint smile. "I enjoy seeing you no matter what."
"I don't know really, I just decided to take them. It was an moment of realization. I remembered that I had pills to take, when I got this phone and started putting alarms in it. They don't always work though, my brain," Eve taps her head with a short nailed finger. "Is too wonky for them sometimes, oh well." She shrugs lightly and looks at Liz over the rim of her glass of water.
"Well.. usually there is a bit of a crisis and the world needs saving." In answer to Liz's answer of how things are going. "Enjoy the ride you should, who knows how short it will." A light smile flashed at the blonde woman before she looks down in her lap and she looks around the restaurant before reaching in her messenger bag and producing.. a cat. A kitten to be exact. "This is Herb!" She grins excitedly at Elisabeth, yay for new friends. This cat looks like a baby tiger. "She's a Toyger. Pretty new breed, I had to pay.. a lot for her. But she's worth it. But there goes my money for milkshakes for the week." Okay.. not really but Eve seems to think she's a lot less poorer because of the purchase of the cat. "She's gonna be so happy with Baloo and Bambi." Her two other cats that Liz hasn't had the chance to meet.
"I'm suppose.." Eve looks down at her phone and scrolls through the calendar. "Ah, I'm suppose to go see Richard in a few days.. I might have to bump that up a little earlier. The bomb man has been retrieved right? Oh and that guy.. the one that disappeared. He's back." The oracle makes a note in her phone, nodding her head and then checks the time on the watch. Ten forty-five in the morning. She's making good time today. "There's so much to remember, I would sometimes envy Cat's ability to remember everything but then I think about if I remembered all the embarrassing things I've walked in on, then I wouldn't be so happy." A chuckle escapes Eve as she locks her phone and places it back on the table. Hands clasped on the table, Herb now safely meowing in her messenger bag, which she has set ontop of her coat. The head of the kitten peeking out every so often.
When she pulls out the kitten, Elisabeth is torn. "Oh!" she says. And then reaches out to touch the little thing. "She's darling," the blonde grins. She's glad when the kitten gets put away, though — this is an eating establishment. She goes quiet as her sandwich, piping hot, is set in front of her, and only after the person leaves does she return the more muted sounds to the table. Tilting her head, she says, "Yes, Richard retrieved the guy in question." Her tone is low in spite of the bubble. Old habits die hard. "And yes, Aric is back and way, way underground." She frowns slightly. "Eve…. when you told me to beware of who I trusted… did you have anyone in particular in mind?" she wonders aloud, picking up her sandwich. Because hey, she's lucid! It can't hurt to ask!
"Good good, I knew I felt the change in the air." Eve notes and she finishes her glass, eyes on the person that brought Liz her sandwich before returning to look at Liz. "Well.. I can't seem to remember to well." Eve says with a confounded expression on her face. "But! You have to be careful of who you trust anyway, don't you?" A puzzled expression before throwing one hand in the air, eyes cast down at the table as she opens her phone again and scrolls through something. "So many meetings.." she murmurs softly to herself before closing her phone again.
"You're bosses are snakes Lizzy." Eve takes on a serious expression, "Need I give more reason for you to be careful of who you trust?" Everyone has an agenda. Even Eve at times.
"I've been dreaming about my paintings a lot." She admits with a slight frown, the theft of them from the alternate Richard Cardinal still leaving a bad taste in her mouth. "And the jumper, he's always making my head hurt." She rubs her forehead with a faint glare at the window.
Well, that much Elisabeth already knows. She smirks around a bite of her sandwich. "Yes, they're snakes. But one of those snakes gave me a lead for Richard that's gonna make him smile." She looks grimly amused. "Without even knowing that they gave it to me. I was planning on catching up with him tonight."
She continues to eat, and in between bites, Elisabeth comments, "Nakamura's definitely been a busy little beaver. I'm sorry about your paintings." She pauses and adds softly, "I didn't tell anyone that you'd actually been working up there. But … if you're dreaming of them, perhaps at some point you'll be able to recapture what you lost." And not because they're useful but because Elisabeth sincerely understands how much it can feel like missing a part of yourself when memories are gone — she can't imagine it's that different when you choose to let them be taken.
As Liz speaks, Eve nods her head along. "Follow that lead close then." Is her simple statement and a gentle smile as Eve places a hand on her arm. "Thank you, I've been dreaming and drawing this apartment.. over and over. My paintings are in there. Or were." Eve is beginning to figure that's where she stayed when she was there. "I figure everyone would be mad that I was helping the 'enemy'. But that term is so.. so overused." Eve waves her hand in regards to the alternate Cardinal being her 'enemy'.
"He's just doing what he thinks is right, much as the one here thinks what he is doing is right. Much as anyone thinks what they are doing is right. Has anyone asked him what happened to make him think the way he does? He's a cruel bastard, but he wasn't born that way." Eve muses softly and begins to hum a bit to herself.
A shrug follows that bit of the time displaced Cardinal. "Doesn't excuse his actions, a murderer isn't allowed to run the streets just because his mother beat him and his father left, hm?" A different take on the motives that of the Alternate Cardinal. "A lost puppy.. drowning in the sea of memories." She whispers, more to herself with a furtive look behind her shoulder out the window there.
Setting her sandwich down, Elisabeth finishes chewing and takes a swallow of her drink before she answers. And while what she says might surprise a lot of people, it may not shock Eve a bit. "Of course he wasn't born that way. At some point, he was the man you and I already know. A guy who loves kids and is desperately trying to not give in to the corruption of influence. I didn't ask the last time we met personally because I expected him to lie to me anyway," she admits softly. "Or at the least… I expected him to only tell me what he wanted me to know to nudge me in certain directions."
Looking down at the table, Elisabeth trails her fingertip down the cup in her hand. "The things he did tell me were pretty personal. And perhaps he only told me that much to make sure he had my sympathy, I don't know. I know … that he killed me because he thought it was the right thing to do. I know that he regretted it — he couldn't hide that. I know…. that something went so bad wrong that I took our son away from him, Eve. And I don't think I want to know if … maybe I tried to kill him because he'd gone so far off track." She reaches up absently and rubs her forehead where the bullet tore through it over a year ago, hiding the glisten of tears over that idea behind lowered lashes. "I don't know if I want to know the extent of the horribleness he suffered."
"Ignorance is bliss. But not all the time." Eve says softly to her friend as she lays a hand on her arm again, squeezing in comfort. "It's all sitting ontop of a tooth pick, the tooth pick is bending. Poor thing." Said in answer to Elisabeth, though what that has to do with what their talking about is anyone's guess.
"The death of a child can be a strong motivator. The loss of any life close to you." She comments and sighs as she looks down at her glass of water. "Are you breaking at the cracks?" a tilt of her head and a frown at Elisabeth, she sure hopes not. "Complex and confusing." Is what all this is, something Eve is all very used too. Her light grey eyes center on Elisabeth.
"This too, shall pass."
There's a blink, and Elisabeth's head jerks up. "What?" she asks, shocked beyond words. In all the scenarios, the truth of the matter is…. it never crossed her mind, because the idea of this possible future kid is still only as real as the idea of such a thing existing can be to her, that the child might be dead. Her mind spins over what little has been said. Ezekial said he hadn't had a lot of input into the kid's life. That Elisabeth had named him. Though it's still a mystery why she'd name him Cameron. But he said 'we had a son.' And now, with Eve's suggestion, she has to wonder… did he lose his child because of the Moab-tier accident that sent him back to 1966? Or was the boy killed or lost in some other way that now he's determined to keep this timeline on course because he thinks he can … stop that part?
Because God help her…. she still fucking wants to believe in him.
Oh great. Eve just opened up a huge can of conspiracies and possibilities in Elisabeth's head. Possibilities that send her reeling under the onslaught. "Eve, I…. "
And this is only one of the reasons that the Queen's oracle has always been priceless to Elisabeth. Not for the answers she has, but sometimes just for the fact that she opens the mind to other possibilities.
"First estranged, then guilt from death." A light shrug as to say, who really knows but Cardinal. Eve can't say for sure, not yet anyway. The woman gives Elisabeth a brief nod. "Why don't we ask him?" Is the simple question from Eve. "We can go whenever you want." An offer from Eve, she wants to be there in support of Elisabeth. But also to see the place that she lived for so long, to see Simon again.
Grey eyes bore into Lizzy's, "If you want to know.. if you want to understand him better. I remember this much from my stay there. He still cares for us, that much is real." It's why he kept her locked up, he wanted to keep her safe. Though his way of showing it is very flawed. Reaching into her messenger bag around Herb, Eve pulls out a sketch pad and then a drawing utensil, soon she's drawing. A symbol there, the beginnings of a face.
"He's so intent of keeping his secrets, but he hasn't learned that secrets hurt you more then help." Is the hushed tone from Eve, as she works on the fine detail of the beginning of the figure's hair.
Sucking in a brief breath to quell an emotional response she doesn't really want to feel, Elisabeth bites her lip. And she murmurs softly, "He's always been that way. Too … wary to trust too far." And certain of the undeservedness of any trust placed in him. Will speaking to Ezekial clarify anything? Or will it simply muddy the waters of what may have to be done? "Let me think about it," she replies quietly, toying with her straw.
Nodding her head, Eve is fine with this answer for now. As long as Liz is looking at all the options in front of her. Looking down at the time on her phone, Eve puts the messenger bag with her new kitten on the table, whose paw peeks out and then rushes back inside. Putting her jacket on, she slides out from the booth and stands. Grabbing the messenger bag, she places the unfinished sketch in the bag careful not to hurt Herb. "We haven't seen everything that is too come. Be prepared for anything Lizzy." Is a faint warning.
Some people in the restaurant have started to whisper around,
"Is that Eve Mas?"
"How long do you think she'll stay this time, she vanishes a lot."
"Did you hear she's a precognitive? She can see the fucking future."
The oracle smiles down at Elisabeth as she prepares to leave, but not ignoring the whispers she hears. A brief smile is given to the people talking about her. "You call me." After reciting her new number to the blonde woman, she begins to walk out. Boots clunking on the surface of the floor, as she shoulders the bag, Herb's head peeking out and meowing at people. "Let's get you some food, the other two have to meet you!" Can be heard coming from Eve as she hums and swings her bandaged hand back and forth as she nears the door.
Elisabeth puts the number directly into her phone. And she watches Eve get ready to leave, the rest of her sandwich cooling in front of her. "I wish I could be better prepared," she murmurs softly. She shoots Eve a small smile. "I'll call." It's a promise. Watching the precognitive leave, Elisabeth's blue eyes are cloudy with worry and uncertainty.
As Eve Mas exits the restaurant, she taps something on her phone and enters the place you can write notes. With a small smile and a rubbing of Herb's head, Eve makes her way down the street, whistling and typing something out on her phone. The words:
Appointment reached, no milkshakes at place. Made Lizzy offer to speak to Richy Dick.
Pondering expression on her face before she types in: Plan for trip. A light reminder Eve that's she's going somewhere soon. And as she locks her phone and places it in the coat pocket. She twirls in the sidewalk and hums as she moves onto her next appointment.
Much to see, and much to do. Time isn't waiting for anyone.