Put A Cork In It

Participants:

joe_icon.gif keira_icon.gif

Scene Title Put A Cork In It
Synopsis Keira gives Joe a job, and then decides to take him to see Richard Cardinal Ray.
Date June 16, 2018

41st Precinct


At one point in time, the 41st precinct building was a busy police station in the heart of the Bronx, right off of the Bruckner Expressway. It even had a painting on the side, likely from the early days of the precinct building. At another point in time, the 41st precinct building stood empty and abandoned, its brick and glass weathering the tests of time and the effects of looters and coming out fairly well after nearly a decade of abandonment.

At one point in time, Keira Aislinn Ryans was a nobody with a stupid nobody name. Just another hired gun, another disposable face in an army of disposable faces. She fled that life and went to Cabo, and spent that same decade gathering her resources, coiling friends and favors and plenty of money under her like a snake waiting to strike. When her Evolved ability surprised her, she capitalized on it and all but took over Cabo, running most of the crime that ran through the small port town that was a popular tourist destination before any war ever happened. She eventually decided, however, that she was homesick, and made her way back to the States.

Today, the 41st Precinct is bustling with life — Keira has gotten her gang in order quite nicely, and has given the building new purpose, this one quite the opposite of the advertising mural that still graces its outer hull. The irony of her chosen location doesn’t escape her — but this building was already heavily fortified, and has many of the things she would already want in a gang hideout. Add that to the fact that the basement is right next to an entrance to the subway tunnels, and…well, it’s everything Keira Ryans’s nervous, paranoid little mind could ever dream of.

The people here come from all walks of life, though almost all of them save for a few folks with particular specialties have some background experience or another in combat. All of them can handle a gun — and all of them are armed in one way or another at all times. The other commonality they all share is that they are all looking to make money, to feed themselves and their families and friends, and while it’s not all legal, it serves that very purpose quite nicely — Keira prides herself on caring for those under her employ as much as possible.

Entry is rather complicated, though not difficult for those who are allowed to be here. The front door is sealed, having been welded shut as one of the first orders of operation — the only way to get into the place is through one of the two gates on either side of the block that the building sits on. Men on the roof above announce his arrival to those below; after providing a password that the boss sent with her summons, Joe will find himself welcomed into the lot itself.

Out in the yard, men are still working, reinforcing the already strong fencing that was already in place before the gang moved in; a few others are working on repairing some of the vehicles that were abandoned along with the station, with their priorities being the police vehicles left behind — a few other vehicles are being stripped for parts.

Aside from the garage entrance, which has been reinforced and is heavily guarded, there’s only one way into the building, up a small set of steps. On the inside, the building has been cleaned up fairly well. It’s obviously been abandoned for nearly a decade, but the place has been as well cleaned as it can get without straight up waxing the floor. There’s a few generators set up, powering several fans and stage lights; it's still stuffy in the heat of the early New York summer, but it's marginally better than it is outside, at least.

In the lobby, he’s met by an extremely heavy-set man with long hair and a long beard; for some reason, the fellow is sporting what appears to be a black jedi robe, or something to that general effect. He greets Joe with a smile. “We were expectin’ you,” he murmurs in a soft cajun accent; he doesn’t wait for an answer, instead turning and heading up the stairs with a simple gesture, huffing and puffing on the way up. Joe is led into what was once an office for the leader of this particular precinct, which has obviously been repurposed into the boss’s office.

Once inside, the large man wordlessly moves to one of the barred windows overlooking the street, standing there in silence.

Joe comes geared and strapped. He wouldn't go anywhere without at least his pistol and a knife on him, but he's got more than that on him today. He's leaving the safe zone, so he comes prepared. A couple different knives, and two pistols, one holstered at the small of his back under his jacket and the other holstered in a shoulder rig. Plus he is his own body armor so there's that. He's wearing some military surplus gear he picked up on the supply run to go get the food. Just basic desert khaki army pants, a black shirt and a matching kahki canvas jacket. He… well he really looks like a kid playing military dressup or something.

Joe bows his head to the man in the jedi robes and goes with it. "Thank you Master Jedi, it is good to know I was expected." There's a grin from the kid. "Good to see you're still in good health Smalls. Didn't die in the time since I last saw you." There's a cocky grin from him as he follows the man up the stairs to the office. Joe huhs as he looks around. "Police are gonna thank you guys real nice for cleaning their precinct up if the government eventually reclaims the whole city. I'd go scorched earth though. Destroy it all before letting them have it back." Joe has no love for the government, and that includes cops. They helped round up the Evolved to be taken off to places like Eltingville. And that makes them bad in his book.

“So, is the boss coming? Should I make myself at home? Have a drink? Get a snack? Put my feet up? Find someone else to pester while I wait? Do you have any cards? We could play a card game. I’m pretty good at them. Had a lot of time to play. Though I suppose telling you I’m good at cards is a bad idea. Cuz then you won’t wanna play. And definitely won’t bet with me. Which is a shame. I have a terrible poker face. Never been a very good liar. So where you from Smalls? Sound Cajun. What would have brought you from down south all the way up here to this place? Even the swamps have got to be better than New York City right now. I can do this all day by the way. My mouth is legendary for never stopping. So when’s the boss lady get here?”

The man in the window chortles slightly, chuckling a bit to himself as Joe takes the stopper off of that motor mouth of his. “My word, son, you can indeed talk with the best of ‘em.” He shakes his head, laughing — however, he doesn’t turn to look at Joe once through the kid’s entire diatribe. “You would do good to learn how to put a cork in that mouth of yours, son, some people in this field you’ve gotten yourself involved in might not take too kindly to your motormouth. It doesn’t bode well for privacy.” He turns, peering over his shoulder at Joe for a moment, a smirk on his face.

“They call me Kevin. Kevin Ford. I’m the official face of the 41st Precinct’s leadership.” The man gestures toward the door. “According’ to them, I am the boss.”

Suddenly, the reason for the Jedi robes makes itself apparent, when the fat man suddenly seems to melt. Or maybe he’s shrinking? Like a deflating balloon, his shape shrinks down, fat melting away into nothing. Normally, this would be horrifying, but thankfully his skin shrinks along with the rest of him. Tattoos bloom into life on his exposed arms, and…suddenly, Keira is standing there, wearing those same robes.

“So I hope you know how t’keep that motormouth of yours shut about this.” The tiny thug smirks over her shoulder at Joe, before adjusting the robes to make sure the teen doesn’t get any extra looks.

Joe can indeed talk with the best of them. "I could be an auctioneer. Or maybe a radio host? Radio host would probably be better. I'd try to slip jokes into the auctioneer bit and get into trouble when someone caught one of them. I mean sure some people would laugh, but someone would get insulted and I'd get fired and it would be a big ole mess. And then I'd have to find a new job. Probably as a radio host so I might as well just start with the radio host thing. Not that anyone is going to hire me to be a radio host. And yeah yeah. Just cuz I'm not a good liar doesn't mean I can't keep a secret. There is a filter up here, I just don't employ it if I don't need it. I talk when I'm bored. Don't like silence much. Grew up in a big house full of people. Constant constant noise. So when I'm bored and everything is quiet I talk to fill the empty space."

There's a shrug from Joe, a grin as well as he tucks his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "Ehh, people don't take kindly to lots of stuff. People don’t take kindly to WHOAH!" Joe's mouth stops as Keira appears out of Smalls. "That's totally Primal!" Joe shouts, then pauses, a hand actually covering his mouth. He lifts a bit so he can whisper it then. "That is totally primal!" Then his hand goes back over his mouth for a moment or two. "Oh yeah. I don't spill people's powers. I mean unless I know they're cool with it. Like my brother. Who come to find out runs guns for you. Didn't know that, now I do. Probably shouldn't know that, but you can't blame him. I kinda dug it out of him. Cuz I knew he was making too much money, and then after working the food run for you I realized he was probably doing some illicit stuff and we realized we were doing jobs for the same person so… yeah. Lance. The ninja. He's my brother." A wide grin on Joe's features, but hey, his mouth stopped again. For a second at least. "So what's up? I got your summons oh lady of the Sith."

As Joe runs his mouth, the much shorter thug lady, complete with her oversized Jedi robe, simply…listens, her brows raised, a small smile playing over her features. She turns her back again, long enough to replace the eye patch over her left eye — mostly to spare Joe the unpleasant view of the hollow socket left behind — and turns, moving behind the desk and settling into the chair, lifting one leg and placing it on the desk.

“You know Lance,” she murmurs, brows raising slightly. That’s good information to know — the two are well acquainted, and probably work well together. She files that little bit of information away for later — it seems she’s got the makings for a nice little task team, if she needs it. Between Tanith, Joe and Lance…so long as she can get the latter two on board, they all make for a nice little power trio that anyone would think twice about before messing with. “Good kid. Works hard.”

Moving onto the reason she called him, the woman smiles. She reaches into a wooden box on her desk, plucking out a cigarette. A zippo is lifted, and the woman lights it up, the embers burning bright red on the end as she takes a slow draw. It’s an unfortunate fact of the shapeshifter — she smokes way too much. “So as you are keenly aware, I have a food operation startin’ up.”

She pauses, leaning back in her chair and relishing that cigarette as if it is her last. She has been thinking about quitting these damned things. “You’ve done good work, helpin’ me gather the supplies I have. I like you a lot, kid, even if y’don’t know how t’shut up sometimes.” She grins over at Joe. “Want a more steady position?”

Joe sees her turn away to put the eye patch on, and he smiles faintly. He recognizes the action for what it is. "Don't worry about me. I'm not in posession of a weak stomach. Been seeing death on a regular basis since I was little. Violent sometimes gruesome death. A missing eye won't bother me at all." Joe tips his head forwards. "I mean not know. He's my brother. We grew up together. We were orphans before the war. Lighthouse Kids if you ever heard of the Lighthouse. And yes we work very well together." He can see the wheels turning in her head. "But he's got principles too. Ours aren't exactly the same, but they're close enough."

His shoulders shrug upwards and then drop back down, his hands sliding out of his pockets as he lets his attention wander around the office again. "Oh I know /how/ to shut up. I just don't. Well I mean I do. When I'm sleeping, or when stuff is serious. I can stop running my mouth when things are serious. Well, I can run my mouth less. But if things are life and death? I can be quiet. But heck that's half of mine and Lance's strategy when things go south. I run my mouth, he goes ninja mode. People come at me and he takes em from behind. It's worked in the past. Mooostly pranks when we were kids but the tactics are the same. Too bad our buddy Paul isn't here. He's a phaser. The final part of our trio of doom."

Joe's head tips to the side slightly at the question of a more permanent position. "Whatcha mean exactly? I ask cuz I've got a lot going on and don't wanna make promises I can't keep. Like I’m going sewer diving here in a few days. Did you know there's electrice Slice rats in the sewers eating people? Like not just eating bodies, but attacking, killing and eating people. Oh, yeah, I'd probably avoid sending people into the sewers for right now. Just a heads up. Cuz they could get eaten. And from what I’ve seen you actually give a crap about the people that work for you. But yeah, we’re going sewer diving, trying to find where the rats are coming from, also trying to find a ghost kid who got killed by them. Only he’s not a ghost, cuz he can think and interact and stuff. He had psychic powers of some kind and we think he’s like the kid’s unfettered consciousness, kind of like some techno paths can aaaaand none of this has anything to do with your question.” Joe at least looks a little bashful. “I’d definitely like a chance to make more money, just don’t want to over promise myself is all.”

“I’ve noticed that he has principles, yes,” she replies, chuckling softly and taking a long drag of her cigarette. “I’m not into forcing people to do things they aren’t comfortable with — unless it fits a specific set of circumstances.” She’s all about forcing people to pay her money that they owe her, but that’s about the jist of it, most of the time. She’s also all about killing people and stealing their faces, but that’s nothing that this kid needs to worry about. “So long as everyone does their jobs, everyone is good.”

She raises her brows slightly. Keira thought she talked a lot, but she’s positively silent compared to this kid. “If Paul ever shows up and wants a job, I’m sure I’d be happy to grandfather him in under you and Lance’s recommendations.” Read: please send your friend her way if he ever comes to town. Keira loves useful people. It’s part of the reason why Tanith, who Joe will be quite familiar with at this point, enjoys her position in this whole new business venture.

“Electric slice rats in the sewers…eating people.” Keira frowns. “Good to know. Let me know if you need a bit of firepower — I might have a few flamethowers laying around.” She’s not joking — that sounds like an unpleasant time for anyone. “If you need some extra oomph, I might be willing to send Tanith with you, as well.” Joe knows Tanith, and exactly what she can do. “I dunno, she could kick a few of them into little explosions or something.” A shrug rolls over the woman’s slender shoulders.

“In any case. If you want it, I got a job for you that’ll get you good money. I’ve got a good supply of food goin’, and everything is lining up perfectly. Found a nice sized food storage warehouse. Outfitted an old mini mart a little ways away, too.” She pauses, taking a draw off of her cigarette, before letting the smoke roll out of her mouth in a lazy cloud. “Want t’be my cashier? Hours are flexible, I can get other guys t’do it, but I wanted to give you first shot at it.”

That says a lot — Keira likes Joe, and it shows in her willingness to give him a job before anyone else. Certainly, her fondness of him stems in part from his ability, but he also seems like a really good kid. She wants to give him all the chances she can.

"Well, as a matter of fact… Lance was intending to come talk to you about seeing if we could borrow a flamethrower or two. I also wanted to see if you might have any firemen gear. I mean I'm not worried about the electric rats, but the other members of our party are. I'm the tank." The reason why is quite obvious given that Keira knows he's the bulletproof energizer bunny. "Nah. I wouldn't want to get her eaten. I figure you'd probably be pretty pissed if I got your number two eaten. She's got punches and splody powers but I don't think she's going to do much against a rat swarm. Cuz we're not talking like a few rats. We're talking dozens and dozens. Maybe hundreds of rats. That roam the sewers like freaking sharks eating everything they come across.”

“I think they're actually like an Evolved that's maybe been in rat swarm mode too long and lost their humanity. But that would mean they'd have to be a multi powered evolved. And those are rare. So figured they're just slice rats. Though I've never heard of anything non human being Evolved. Doesn't mean the crazy freaking scientists didn't make some slice rats though and give them powers somehow. Anywaaaay yeah. Guys in sewers bad. Oh and yeah. We'd talk to Paul. He likes making money too. We all grew up with nothing. Like really nothing. So New York is bountiful by our standards and we've enjoyed having the money to not have to worry too much."

Joe looks fairly confused at the offer to be a… cashier? He looks down right perplexed for several long seconds before understanding dawns. "Ahhh. You want me there in case someone decides it's a good idea to attack and steal food in force. Bulletproof cashier. Proof against anything they can bring to bear. Not one hundred percent sure I can take a tank shot, but I know I can take fifty cal shots. I know, we've tested it. So can take anything they can bring to bear. Which makes me fairly ideal. And I'm the commando they wouldn't expect."

He knows what he looks like. He's not big, he's lean and wiry, and he's not tall. He is not imposing in the slightest. "And the first time someone tries it and gets their butt ninja kicked by the skinny kid that their bullets and knives bounced off of they'll spread the word and people will think twice about messing with your business. And if they don't you've got plenty of other muscle to go and uhhh encourage them to leave you be." And by encourage he knows it's at least breaking of hands and what not. Possible death. "I wouldn't mind it. I mean I was making my living babysitting before so…" His shoulders lift and roll in a shrug, though there's an amused smile on his lips. "Advertising yourself as a bulletproof babysitter pays surprisingly well."

Firemen gear. “I don’t have any of that, but there’s a firehouse a few blocks down. M’sure there will be at least a few suits hangin’ out up there.” She frowns. “I’ll see if I’ve got some body armor hangin’ around, too. I’m not worried about you,” because he’s her awesome indestructible boy, “but I don’t want Lance gettin’ eaten. M’sure we have some tactical gear sittin’ around.” As Joe observed, she really does care about the people under her employ. Especially Joe and Lance — they’re young, just kids, and she feels like she should look out for them in one way or another.

Even if it’s just by giving them good money for good work and making sure they don’t get eaten by a giant swarm of electric rats.

“Let me know. You and Lance are good people, and I like y’both. I’m interested in keepin’ you alive. You be careful down there, too. I’m not worried about you getting eaten, but the electric part might not be so fun for you — that shit can hurt.” She’s been tased before, she can only imagine what little electric rodents could do.

His deductions about her motives behind putting him up as her cashier are met with an almost fond smile. “Exactly. I’ll have the armed guards, of course, but you’ll be my hidden gem there. If anyone wants to fuck with anythin’, you are a shining of example of why it’s a bad idea.” She nods, chuckling softly. “You’ll have some of my other boys along with you. There’s security at the door, nobody’s going to be allowed to bring weapons in, and anyone who doesn’t surrender their weapons before walkin’ in will be turned away at th’door.” She takes another drag of her cigarette, before snuffing it out.

“But if anyone tries anything, you’ll be my first line of defense.” Plus, he’s also the best chance of any of her money making its way back into her hands if something should happen. “You’ll be the first one they go for, and it’ll probably be pretty discouraging when they can’t make a mark on you.” She chuckles softly. “I’ll pay well, of course.” She always does — it’s easier to turn a profit when your employees think highly of you. It’s also easier to inspire loyalty when you take care of yours.

“So whatcha think? Like I said, schedule’s flexible. Six hour days, or however long it takes to sell out for the day. Free lunch, too.” Keira peers at the boy thoughtfully with that remaining blue eye of hers.

"Damn. We were hoping you might. We have a friend who said he could build us a capacitor or something to wear that should absorb some of the electricity. He's our off tank. He's been kinda over protective lately though so we're trying not to go to him too much for help. Really nice guy though. Pretty selfless. But we're independent types. We don't like relying on anyone. But he is also pretty useful in a tight spot. Lance calls him Captain America cuz he makes force fields. Well I call him Captain America. I think Lance does too. But that might have just been me. I talk enough for everyone. I'll have to go check the firehouse. I'm sure it's been picked clean though. People look for anything to trade. I'm one to talk though. I mean I went into the exclusion zone and got all my friends jumped by a nightmare telepath that hitched a ride in our brains and stuff. I call him Fearmonger. Well called. Call? I"m not sure if he's still around or not. He's not in our brains anymore thankfully. We've got an aunt who's a super powerful telepath. She got rid of it."

"Electric can hurt yeah. But it takes a lot of it to hurt me. Sometimes I touch Caspian's fence just for fun. Caspian is Captain America. Our off tank. He's got an electric fence in front of his place. Sometimes I touch it just for fun. Tickles. I'm worried about my people though. Cuz they are not resistant to electricity. Or rat teeth. They almost got eaten when I was on the supply run. They went into the sewers without me. Don't blame them I was gone awhile. Trying to find Zhao, then doing a little fighting, then doing some runs for you. Lotsa stuff. Of course that was after the nightmare thing from the other dimension tried to eat us through the TV. Which is why I was looking for Zhao. Older asian guy. Knows way way way too much. Super zen though. Found him in Queens. Well the ruins that were once Queens."

Joe pauses a moment. "Yeah, rambling. No not worried about sharing with you. Anything secret I don't share. Anything not secret I'll share with anyone. The others want to keep the dimensional monster thing a secret though. I don't, I think everyone should know about it. We got a video from another dimension. Like ours but different. Some people we knew were on the video but they weren't the people we knew yah know? Anyway they opened some vortex and something was reaching across the worlds and messing with us in Caspian's living room. Burned an image into his TV. After he unplugged it. Video kept going. Horror movie style. Was terrifying. Kinda cool too. But also terrifying. So yah know… slice man eating rats in the sewers, and interdimensional… golden eyed thingy trying to rip it's way into our reality. You should hang out with us. We have the best times." Joe grins wide and cheeky then pauses. "Sure. I've got the sewer venture in a few days. I'll let you know. Do you have a landline we can call? Cell signal is for crap. Or a reliable way to get a hold of you?"

There is a look on Keira’s face as Joe rambles that is a combination of amazed and amused. “I dunno, I think you could be an auctioneer,” she responds to an earlier remark, smirking. “They throw the most random shit in with their rambles. Dated an auctioneer once, he did his whole thing in slow motion. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life.” She smirks.

Recognition briefly slips over Keira’s face as Joe mentions Caspian, though it passes quickly enough that Joe might not notice it. They know Caspian, huh? Interesting little small world scenario she has going on right now. If they hang out at Caspian’s pretty frequently, it’s pretty likely that they’ll run into her at some point.

“Tell me more about this golden eyed thingie? I have an old friend who would very much like to know about any interdimensional bullshittery that might be going on. He’s very much interested in preventing such bullshittery from happening.” Richard will certainly be interested to her about that one. He’ll already be fascinated by the electric SLC-E rats eating people, but the interdimensional golden eyed thing is right up his alley.

As to the way to get in touch, Keira resorts to her favorite method of telling people how to get in touch. She slips a plain business card onto the table. There’s a simple phone number on one side, and an address on the other. “If you want to work for the day, show up there at 10am. If you don’t show, it’s no sweat.” The card is tapped. “Call that number if you need anything. Someone will tell you where to go from there.”

She pulls out her cell phone, tapping a few things on the screen, before sliding it back into the pocket of her jedi robes.

"Auctioneers? Yeah they do. They're talking so fast that people miss it. Like I said I'd probably get caught for throwing in jokes. It's just kind of how my life works." Joe's shoulders lift in a quick shrug, not terribly bothered by it. "You know Caspian?" Joe doesn't miss much. Brian trained him well. He's alert and attentive despite his never ending verbal flood. "Cool. Like I said good guy. Just gets a little overprotective. He wants to go into the sewers with us this time. We probably should take him since he can do the force field thing, but at the same time I don't want him getting hurt just because we're on some stupid fool crusade to save the hobos in the sewers. We also want to save our friend William. The ghost not ghost kid that I mentioned. But having extra protection is good too." Joe's features scrunch up in debate as he weighs the options in his head. And out loud.

"Oh. I'm not entirely sure. Apparently our Aunt Eve has seen it in one of her visions. But she's crazy so people never know what to make of her and her antics. But Lady Zeus said that aunt Eve had seen it. I was supposed to go see Eve but then I got caught up in the search for He Who Knows Too Much. Only I couldn't find him. Figured if anyone knew about the golden eyed demon it'd be him. But he was nowhere to be found. But the tape had two dead people on it. Elizabeth and Magnes. They were not here. We know because Lady Zeus, our Aunt Lynette was on the tape, and it was most definitely not her. Her husband was on the tape too and it was most definitely not him. Liz and Magnes got sucked into a black hole, but I'm thinking it wasn't a black hole so much as a wormhole. And it sucked them through. Buuuuut. Yeah. We don't know anything about the golden eyed demon. Just the people on the video. Elizabeth was with our AUnt Kaylee's brother. Aunt Kaylee is the super powerful telepath. We have a lot of aunts. Privileges of being raised by the Ferry."

Joe blinks a few times, one eye squinting and then the other. He's trying to remember where he was on his tirade. "I met Kaylee's brother once. When I was little. He was in the park and was wearing sunglasses. I called him Mister Shades for awhile. But yeah I don't remember where I was going with all that. Oh! I think he should know about it. Aunt Kaylee said something about not telling him so he doesn't go trying to rip holes in reality. But I think he's got a right to know if someone he loves is still alive you know? And secrets are bullshit. Secrets are what led to the war and everything leading up to the war. Too many secrets. Uhhh cool."

He takes the card in hand and tucks it into his pocket. "Have you ever heard of anyone named Samson? Says he's wanted by the authorities. Dunno what for. He's a crazy hobo living in the sewers or near the sewers. But he helped my siblings out. Just wanna know if he's dangerous or not before I try to find him to thank him. Figured… someone wanted by the authorities… maybe you'd know. Older guy. Most people don’t let me run my mouth this long. Usually Lance would have smacked me on the head and told me to shut up before now. He says I tell too many people too much. Every time I mention that Sylar used to hang out at the Lighthouse and play sad songs on his guitar he smacks me in the head. Usually hard enough to hurt his own hand. Who yah texting? That friend? Do I know the friend? Yeah I’m being nosy but I just dropped a bunch of info on you so… there yah go.”

That’s a lot of information to process. It leaves Keira blinking, a little baffled. Her phone is brought out of her pocket again, and she types a bit more out, her fingers moving a bit more furiously over the keypad of her phone. “I think my friend is Mister Shades to you,” she murmurs, raising a finger to indicate that he needs to hang on just one second. The question about Caspian is thankfully glossed over by this new onslaught of information.

She doesn’t know all of what he’s referring to, but she knows about Elisabeth, and she knows that she is dead, and she knows that Richard loved that woman. And she knows that Kaylee is also Richard’s sister, and that this just got really complicated. “You’re coming with me,” she murmurs — it’s not really a command, but it’s also not really a request, either. “I think that my friend Mister Shades, Richard Ray, needs to hear all of this from you. I’m not nearly so eloquent, and I suck at summarizing.”

The woman finishes her typing, slipping her phone into her pocket. Hopefully, that’ll get to him quickly enough — reception is awful, but there’s always email. “He’s a good friend, and a good guy. And he’ll make sure that something is done with that info you have.”

The mention of Samson does not seem to spark any recognition in her eyes — but then, she’s just a criminal who has been out of the country for the past eight years. “Mention him to Mister Shades, too — Mister Shades knows far more about the dirty underbelly of New York than any legitimate person has any right to know.” She shrugs, before moving to stand. A hand motion is made to Joe to indicate that he needs to turn around. When he does so, she quickly pulls on her normal clothing — because it doesn’t really behoove her to be walking around New York wearing nothing but Sith robes.

"Dude! You know Mister Shades? Oooooh. Aunt Kaylee is going to kiiiillll meeee if she hasn't told him yet. Oh well. She shouldn't be keeping secrets from him, and it's been well over a month now. If she hasn't shown him yet that's her fault. He deserves to know that Elizabeth might still be alive." Joe's head tips up and down quickly a couple of times.

"Mister Shades was a cool guy. He used to come by the Lighthouse too. I liked him. Brian used to swear at him. A lot. And then tell me not to repeat said swear words. I thought it was funny. Jesus Christ Cardinal was probably his favorite line when it came to Mister Shades. Though he doesn't go by Cardinal anymore. Richard Ray now? I guess. People are weird." Yeah that finger meant absolutely nothing to Joe. That just meant Keira wouldn't be talking so Joe was free to do so. And he so didn't miss the lack of response about Caspian. He'll bring that up rest assured.

"Okey dokey. I haven't seen Cardinal in awhile. It'd be cool to see him again. Haven't seen him since the Lighthouse was destroyed I don't think. Oh I don't think I'm eloquent. But I can summarize the crap out of some stuff. That I can totally do." Joe's head tips to the side slowly. "Okay. I mean… I guess. I don't want to get Samson in trouble. He helped Lance and Brynn and Squeaks. Probably saved their lives after they ran into the electric slice rats in the sewers. So I don't want him to get in trouble and stuff. That's a crappy way to repay someone for saving your family yah know? Why am I turning around?" He seems genuinely perplexed for a few moments before understanding dawns. "Ahhh gotcha. Sorry modesty isn't really something we possess. Too many years of living in too tight of quarters with tons of other kids, and some adults. Oh!" He stops talking and turns away for her privacy.

"But you should totally wear the Sith robes one day. Dude, that would be awesome if we could find an electrokinetic to run around in sith robes shooting lightning at stuff. That'd be totally primal. Oh… if I'm ever injured on a job? Unlikely. But if it happens? I have to be negated to be worked on. Not sure what we could run up against that would have the force to give me internal injuries but it's happened. My friend Eimi teleported too many people and it tore us up inside. Had to get negated at the hospital so they could work on me. Do you know how much that is? My god. You'd think they were gassing me with gold in gas form or something. You don't changeing yet? This talking to the empty half of the room is kinda odd. Oh yeah. Caspian. You know Cas? How does someone of your association know someone as goody two shoes as Cas? He’s like the epitome of the upstanding citizen.”

“I used to date Mister Shades,” Keira replies with a small smirk. “All said and done, he’s good people who has good things on his mind — even if he did chloroform me once,” she laughs. “All said and done, though, Richard’s good people.” While Joe’s back is turned, she slips into a pair of tight jeans and a tank top that cuts off below her chest, with little straps criss-cross wrapping their way down the rest of her torso.

“Done changing,” she adds, so he knows it’s okay to turn around. Man can this kid talk. Good for her — she’ll gladly listen to everything she has to say. Maybe not so good for privacy’s sake — she’s sure he can keep his mouth shut, but she’s not going to go telling the boy her deepest, darkest secrets, either.

She moves behind the desk, reaching down and pulling a pack of fresh cigarettes from a drawer and throwing it into the backpack-style purse she carries. From another drawer, a rather large gun setup is pulled, the holster attached to her hip. Another, smaller gun is placed into her boots, followed by a knife into the other one.

Keira never leaves home without an arsenal.

The question about Caspian prompts a smirk, though perhaps her cheeks are turning red? “I’ve known Caspian for a while, back when I was running Cabo,” she replies. “He’s an extremely good guy who makes it very much a point not to get involved with my crime business. He’s the one who wired the place, though,” she gestures up at the lights — which she flips off when she reaches the door. There’s more she’s not saying, but that’s probably all Joe is going to get out of the shapeshifter today.

“Let’s go. Keep your mouth shut ‘til we get to the car.” Without leaving Joe much chance to respond, she sweeps out of the office, obviously expecting the teen to follow her.


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