Professional Courtesy And Politeness

Participants:

alec_icon.gif elisabeth_icon.gif

Scene Title Professional Courtesy and Politeness
Synopsis Liz goes to consult Alec on home security.
Date May 30, 2009

Alec's Apartment


If the truth is known, Elisabeth is so not happy to be here. But her trip to the precinct this morning already yielded two pieces of bad news — Abby's up to her eyeballs in something bad… and Richard Myron is dead. So all the good feelings that she left her apartment with are pretty much up in smoke, and if the day's a total loss in terms of mood anyway, she might as well make it three for three and deal with Alec Bonder. At midmorning, Elisabeth slips out of the precinct and heads for home… or at least, her building. And she finds herself facing Alec's door. She actually stands there staring at it for a full three minutes before she rings the bell.

One can hear the wee peep hole cover being pulled back, then the locks being thrown. Then a pause, "If you're hear to shoot me I'm not letting you in." comes through the door. "Are you? Here to shoot me that is." Alec always did have a scewed sense of humor.

Liz looks less than amused, and her answer is succinct to the point of rudeness. "No."

More silence then the last locks are thrown and the door is opened. He walks away towards the livingroom, trusting her to know to close and lock the door behind her when she comes in. "Met your galpal last night. Nice lady. Worrisome though. She had me take my shirt off too. What is it with you people? That makes me three for three when it comes to memebers of your happy funtime club who've seen me at least half naked."

Entering his apartment, Elisabeth's tension is still present. She locks the door behind her though, and follows him to the living room with her hands in her pockets. "Which galpal was that?" she asks calmly. "Surely not Abby. Though I don't really appreciate you sending her to plead your case."

Alec snorts, "I didn't send her to plead shit. Actually, I told her you were most likely going to shoot me in the face. If she came to you she did it on her own. Nice girl though, adorable. You just wanna pat her on the head and send her off to bed with a cookie." he flops down on the couch, "Your galpal, I assumed it was you that set it up. Blond chick, about yay tall, had some weird facination with your boy Teo and hsi current whereabouts."

Elisabeth ahs. Helena. "I don't know what her fascination with your scars is, though if she'd asked me I'm sure I could have told her whatever she wanted to know," she comments. Not like she hasn't seen and touched every one he's got. She studies him quietly. "She told me you were destroying the tapes of the conversations that involved her. Thank you. She used to hate that those of us staying with her at night could hear her screams… the thought that a perfect stranger was hearing her most intimate fears must have been eating at her ever since I mentioned that the house had been bugged."

Alec nods his head and reaches over to the coffeetable and plucks up a CD. He flicks it Liz's direction. It's charred and warped, holes burned clean through it. Looks like he took a torch to it and knowing him, he might have. "Some things are better left unknown." he says simply, "And she didn't have anything to do with the rest of you. I know what those nightmares are like, they're hers and hers alone." which is as close as Liz might ever come to something that was sorta kinda sounding like an appology. Maybe.

Catching the CD, Elisabeth looks at it a long moment. Abby has plenty to do with them, just … not the way he means. She merely nods. And then she crosses her arms. "I need to find out how much it would cost me to put a good security system into my apartment," she finally tells him. "And considering you're one of the best in the business in terms of conventional breaking and entering… I figured you'd be the one to ask."

Alec was just getting comfy, now he blinks and turns to eye her, "Huh. Didn't see that one comeing." he admits. "Your place? For starters I'd suggest you move to a room with a supporting wall, like I did. Makes people less willing to toss in explosives when doing so might collapse a floor, or better yet, when it wouldn't help since the wall is crazy strong." he points to the two walls in his room. "But assuming you're not willing to do that? It depends on how much security we're talking about. You wanna stop HomeSec from getting in, burlars, or a rampaging Evo with demolitions experiance?"

Elisabeth raises one eyebrow. "I'd like to stop ANYONE from getting in, but frankly if they want me bad enough to chuck explosives in my window or send a rampaging Evo with demolitions experience after me, they'll get in — and so that part I'd rather happen with the least amount of collateral casualties. So … how about we split the difference and say that I'd like a system that would give me enough warning if the SWAT team's coming through my front doors and the windows that I could get barricaded into a bathroom." Because the emergency teleport beacon would get active then, and she'd get out. "And keep out your far above average Joe Blow burglar, of course."

Alec nods his head and considers her request, "Well, the biggest problem will be your lock. There are systems you can get with keys not even locksmiths can duplicate. They're complex thrity six tumbler locks. I can pick one, but it takes about two to three hours to do and I'm /very/ good at that, the best even. So you can imagine how your average guy wouldn't bother. Your key will look funny, like a roll of pennies with odd notches cut into it, and a spare key will cost you about eight hundred bucks, but the system in it's entirety is about as private as you can make it. Steel reinforced door with wooden outer covering to make it /look/ like a normal door isn't that expensive and no SWAT ram will get through it. Bar lock instead of dead bolts," he points to his own door where there's a bar that goes into the wall on either side of the door as opposed to simple deadbolts, "and some reinforced windows? Oh… It would take me a few days to install it all, and it wouldn't be cheap, but without blowing your door with detcord or putting fifty cal rounds through the windows the place would be damned near impossible to just break into. Best part is, it wouldn't /look/ like it was fortified either. Annonymity is the first step to great security."

Elisabeth listens intently to his information, and nods slowly. "Won't stop them from teleporting in or shadowing in or anything like that, but … it'll potentially give me the few seconds I need to get out if necessary." She nods slightly. "If you could get me a bottom line in terms of finances and a timeline, I'll talk to you about scheduling it." She glances at him. "I think the weird key would be a giveaway, so let's stay away from that part. Other than that, I've no objections with anything you've mentioned thus far. If you're willing to do it." It's sort of her olive branch — she's still not in a frame of mind to forgive him the panic and stress he's caused her quite yet, but she's willing to concede that she trusts him enough to be the person who handles this.

Alec shrugs, "Well ditching the lock will save you about ten grand right off the top." he says with a smile that suggests that's a good thing. "The rest? The windows will cost you, about a grand a window and that's only cause I know a guy and I get wholesale prices. The door is cheap, couple hundred bucks there, I can manufacture a wooden facade for it myself, the bar? Couple hundred, can do that too… Basically? If I remember the window count in your place right it'll run you about eight grand, ten if you want me to do it all the way I'd like, nothing half assed. And a week or more of instalation, a portion of which I'd like to do at night so we minimize the risk of anyone knowing your door's been swapped out."

Alec grins even more, "Be glad this is a quality place that has concrete sepperaters in the walls and not just studs and dry wall, otherwise you'd be in for a heap more."

Well… it's a bit more than she bargained for, certainly, but… her father has already said he'd pitch in the difference, just because of the state of the city lately. So Elisabeth nods slowly and says, "All right. I'll make arrangements to be out of the apartment for several nights." She's sure Cat will allow her a spare apartment for a couple of nights. "Let me know when you want to do it. Thank you, Alec."

Alec waves her words away, "Hey, they've had me changing lightbulbs in stop over houses for the Charon Club for a few weeks now. A chance to actually do work is a welcome distraction." he reclines a little in his comfy couch. "I can start in a couple days if you like. Gotta make some calls, purchase the panes and what not."

Elisabeth shrugs and nods slightly. "That'll be fine. Just…. call first. Don't go letting yourself in," she says a little tightly.

Alec chuckles at that, "Sure, take all the fun out." he teases, lightly tossing a pillow her direction. "Spoil sport."

Although catching the pillow is an automatic move, Elisabeth doesn't return fire. Instead she sets the pillow back on the couch and heads for the door. "Considering what's going on out there, think of it as 'for your own safety.' I might shoot first and ask questions later." She's not entirely kidding… though may be just a little bit kidding, without a smile to say so. "I appreciate that you'll take the time and effort." The last is a bit stiffly, like she still doesn't really know how to get past what's between them at this point.

Alec just nods his head, "Uh-huh." his tone suggesting he understands everything she's said, and the stuff she didn't. "Don't worry gorgeous, eventually you'll build a bridge and get over it, until then I'm happy enough to keep taking ferry's across the river to see ya." he grins that crooked grin of his. "Heck, at this rate I fear you won't have a choice but to deal with me at least occasionally.

Elisabeth stops at the door and seems to consider her words. She's still so damn mad at him. But she manages to bite it back into some semblance of civility. "Your childhood may have sucked and you may have a hard time trusting people, but it's no excuse for bad behavior on a personal level. You had an opening when I told you that I'd checked you out to confess the same and show a little bit of faith. Instead, you took my faith, you took my friendship and the intimacy I offered you, and you spat in my face. The only bridge I'm willing to build with you is one of professional courtesy and politeness on both sides," she tells him quietly.

Alec snorts, "Uh-huh." he says again, "See the problem with chucking stones through my windows is you keep forgetting to open your own first. That's a two way street. I could have told you what I was doing, but sadly I didn't have enough information at the time to protect myself. You would have gone to your friends, who would have stepped up intel gathering attempts on me in an attempt to protect /themselves/. You people just aren't used to having someone run your own game on you, and that's okay, I get it. Sad that you were caught in the middle, but I get it. You're pissed but you'll move on. You're grown up like that. I don't suspect it will be /soon/, but it'll happen. I have faith."

Elisabeth turns to look at him and says, "I checked up on you — I learned every bit of public knowledge there is on you, personal and professional. I made exactly one phone call, to a social service worker to verify that you — your face — is the same one she worked with for years. And that was exactly it. I did not tell any of my friends your personal details, nor did I bug your house. I did not listen to you have sex with another woman, and I did not listen to your most private conversations with your friends and lovers. What I did to you was a basic background check. What you did to me is tantamount to emotional rape, Alec. You made me doubt my own judgment, and you made me feel like I wasn't safe in my own house anymore. It's a pretty shitty feeling." And worse yet, she's also now been broken into by a psycho freak, and people in Phoenix and cops are being targeted out there. So she's kind of feeling the siege mentality. "So will I get over it? Yeah, I will. But you're right, it's not going to be soon." Of course, that might change a little with the installations he's doing. She opens the locks on the door and then the door itself, glancing over her shoulder. "Call me when the materials come in, I'll make arrangements for you to go in to install it all."

Alec just listens to her tirade then nods, "Sure thing beautiful." Once the door shuts behind her another him pokes it's head out from the bathroom, "Oooo. Prime is gonna be /so/ pissed at you for botching that assignment. You know what he's gonna say when he's back in range. Shoulda thought less with your pride, more with your mind." Alec on the couch gives Alec at the bathroom door the finger and stands, walking over to lock it, "Finish unplugging the toilet or I'm not the only one he'll be pissed at. Putz." he sighs heavily.


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