Participants:
| Scene Title | Peaceably to Assemble |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | They're not terrorists! Just ask them! (Unless you're the authorities, in which case they'd rather you didn't.) But they have gone through significant troubles. |
| Date | January 30, 2011 |
Even when a location tries to straddle the borderline between two demographics, the people tend to identify themselves with one camp or the other by sticking to their usual behavior. Those who are here to be seen someplace hip are doing just that, dressing and talking to draw the eye and ear to themselves, while those who just want a break from pizza and hamburgers keep to themselves. The waitstaff play this up, doing their best to seat the former near the middle of the panopticon.
Equally comfortable in the latter role, Evan is at a corner table near the entrance, paying more attention to who's coming and going than who's already here. More variety, fewer loud attention whores.
Elaine isn't really part of the cool, hip crowd, but she's dressed well enough that she could be. She's dressed fashionably enough, but it's actually just that she'd come from work. The waitstaff seem confused for a brief second, as for where to seat Elaine (especially as she's dining alone), but her request to be a little more out of the way is granted as she's shown to a seat somewhat near Evan. She flops down, happily accepting a menu.
There, you see? Variety. All the socialites' faces start to blend together after a while - especially after consciously blocking out their voices - but here's one that Evan recognizes. And one of the few who knows about something he's been keeping to himself since it happened. Settling on the tuna roll, he sets his own menu aside and waves a hand to get her attention.
Thankfully, Elaine wasn't too engrossed in her menu, and she looks surprised as she notices Evan waving. She takes her menu, abandoning her own table as she heads over to his, taking a seat across from him. "Jesus Christ. Are you okay?" She never really got the chance to ask that during the fact.
Evan picks his menu up again, pretending to look it over one more time as he replies. "I haven't been shot. Or arrested— yet, and I hope to hell that doesn't change, considering what certain people think we were really up to. What about you, had any trouble?"
Elaine peers at her menu. "No, thank goodness. Scared the shit out of me when I saw on the news they had footage. I kept waiting for someone to knock on my door or something. I've never even had a criminal record whatsoever, so I wasn't too worried when we got stopped, but… after what happened there, I'm not so keen on talking to the police about it." She settles on the philly roll, resting her back against the chair.
"Me either. If we're lucky, they're busy chasing whoever really did do it, and keeping quiet about it so they won't be tipped off. If we're unlucky…" Evan shakes his head, setting the menu back down and folding his arms on the edge of the table, leaning heavily into them. "Then they've hit a brick wall, and they'll grasp at any straw they happen to come across."
The redheaded woman purses her lips. "It's doubtful they'll get who did it… so keep an eye out. I don't think they'll bother us, but… there's a good possibility, if they got decent footage, that we might be questioned. I'm banking on the fact that their footage won't come up with much."
Evan studies Elaine's expression, looking for body language cues. He believes that she's innocent - he first met her when she was out devoting her personal time to helping people out - but does she know anything specific about the situation, or is she just guessing like he is? "Same here. I don't have a record, either, but I did get a curfew warning a while back… think it might have been one of the same officers, too. Hard to tell with the bad lighting."
"Yeah. Scary as hell given martial law and everything. I'm glad you're okay, though," Elaine nods towards him, fingers tapping lightly on her menu. "I haven't had so much as even a curfew warning, so I should be okay, but… you never know anymore. I'm gonna be nervous for a while anyways."
"I don't blame you. I can understand why, but… Some people will make mistakes. Some people might use it as an excuse to indulge their own grudges." van shakes his head, but lets go of the topic there; he's said about as much about it as he can think of. "So how're you doing, otherwise? Where's the guy with the funny name?" The other thing he remembers more or less clearly from their first meeting.
"Guy with the funny name?" Elaine blinks for a moment as she tries to understand what he's referring to. Oh. Right. "Magnes? Oh, I'm not with him anymore. It's been a couple of months now. It didn't exactly work out well, so… I'm out on my own again." She shakes her head. "But I'm alright, I guess. A lot of stuff happened in my personal life a short bit ago, but I think things are in the clear now. Feeling a lot better about things and my life's going okay. What about you?"
Evan waves a hand, nodding. "Right, that was it. Sorry to hear it. Me— things at Columbia are humming along as usual. Personally…" This is something he didn't want to talk about, but she asked, so here it is. "The woman I was going out with? They found her in her apartment, shot in the head. Accidental, they think." At least they didn't turn up a note or anything.
Elaine's eyes go wide. "Jesus. Are you okay? That's got to be… I mean, losing someone…? That's got to be horrible. Were the two of you very close? But… accidental…" She frowns. "Do you think she might have been murdered for some reason? Accidental gunfire to the head seems…" She trails off.
Evan purses his lips. "We were only together a couple months." And a one-night stand years earlier, but he's simplifying. "We were starting to head in that direction, I think… I don't think she was. She was - worried - about certain circles she was working in, but she would've told me if she thought anything like that was coming. I suppose it could have been suicide too, but if it was, then it came out of nowhere… The assumption is that she was just angling for self-defense, and it got botched up somehow."
"Circles?" Elaine raises an eyebrow, but doesn't push the issue. It's not her place. "Could have been something as simple as a home invasion robbery that went wrong. I'm… I'm really sorry. It's difficult to lose someone you care about, much less like that."
"Thanks." Not that any number of people couldn't have been a sounding board for the issue, but - apart from the officers who handled the case - everyone else left it alone and Evan let them. "Before that, there was another woman I was going out with for a couple months— then we both got kind of busy with work, and one night I ran into her and oh, turns out she's started dating someone else. At the time, I thought that was a bad way for things to end."
"Ouch. That's… that's rough," Elaine points out. "But… I've got one to top that. My ex killed my other ex. So, you know… I guess you're lucky it wasn't the same way with you. Better that she's dating someone else as opposed to killing someone, right?"
Evan bites his lip. "We-el. That's some type of terrible, depending… you know, whether the shooter or the target was the jackass. Or they both were." There's almost a hint of a smile, but it sputters out before it finishes forming. "I guess at least it's good to know someone else who's been having rough times."
"The target was more of a jackass, though the shooter isn't a perfect gentleman either." Elaine smiles slightly, looking back over at him. "Misery loves company, so… guess we're in the right place, right?"
"I guess." Evan scratches at the back of his neck. "Even if fate decides we need an extra helping of trouble, maybe it'll at least split it up." There's that half-smile again, and this time it actually sticks around for a few seconds. As messed up as things are, they can't be called rock bottom.
There's a tiny smile from Elaine too. "We'll be fine, I think. Things are rough, but… I've noticed time solves a lot of things." She lets out a breath. "Anyways, it is nice to commiserate with someone."