Quiet In The Library

Participants:

brian_icon.gif cat_icon.gif diego_icon.gif elvis_icon.gif jennifer_icon.gif

Scene Title Quiet in the library
Synopsis Diego tries to teach self defense, and everyone has an opinion.
Date December 15 2008

New York Public Library

Once upon a time, the New York Public Library was one of the most important libraries in America. The system, of which this branch was the center, was among the foremost lending libraries /and/ research libraries in the world.

The bomb changed that, as it changed so much else.

By virtue of distance, the library building was not demolished entirely, like so many others north of it; however, the walls on its northern side have been badly damaged, and their stability is suspect. The interior is a shambles, tattered books strewn about the chambers and halls, many shelves pulled over. Some have even been pulled apart; piles of char in some corners suggest some of their pieces, as well as some of the books, have been used to fuel fires for people who sought shelter here in the past.

In the two years since the bomb, the library — despite being one of the icons of New York City — has been left to decay. The wind whistles through shattered windows, broken by either the blast-front or subsequent vandals, carrying dust and debris in with it. Rats, cats, and stray dogs often seek shelter within its walls, especially on cold nights. Between the fear of radiation and the lack of funds, recovery of the library is on indefinite hiatus; this place, too, has been forgotten.


Its late. Those with an eye for patterns might have noticed by now that /late/ is usually the best time to catch Diego on the premesis. In this instance, though, he's bucked most of his norms. There is no expensive formal wear and no dog. Elvis may have, in fact, noted the presence of another bike. In any case, Diego has apparently gone about the work of setting up for… something. A space in a somewhat central location has been cleared as well as possible. This means there aren't any broken things or books on the floor. A bookshelf has been dragged aside to serve as a table and its occupied with a large black duffel bag and a black leather riding jacket. Diego himself is garbed in an UnderArmor style undershirt revealing ink that covers most of his arms and those parts of his visible upper body and dark BDU bottoms. Whatever it is he's up to, it looks as if it might involve… moving.

Now everyone's favorite biker, is never one to be late. Tonight is clearly no exception, as she files in brushing frost off her jacket. "Hey, Diego. Helena said I was supposed to hit you up." Her gloved hands lifting to unzip her jacket and expose a zip up hoody beneath. "I believe, she said it would be in our best interests if I actually tried to shoot something besides old kegs for once?"

"Where's Capone?"

Brian is wearing a large white hoody, his hands tucked into the pockets of the sweatshirt as he walks toward Diego. his expression, as usual since he was killed are downcast. Though sarcasm and wit are still to be found in the body that once belonged to a more charming, more cheerful Brian. His gray eyes raise up to Elvis as she approaches. He stands there quietly. "You gonna teach us to be crazy killing machines?"

Jennifer isn't normally around this late at night. She is tonight, though, and she's just been at the library for several hours, working on projects. With Something Going On, she wanders down to take a look and see what the project in question is, looking curious. She heads towards Brian and asks, sotto voce, "What's going on?"

"Well, then, she probably intended for you to meet up with Wireless."

Diego admires his cleared space for the barest of moments before walking back over to his bag and unzipping it. "But, I'll serve in a pinch." This he says as he takes a few boxes out of the bag- three of them, in fact -then a smaller backpack, and a couple pairs of light sparring gloves. The kind UFC people wear. That leave your fingers exposed. "Capone doesn't like it when people try to hit me, so I left him with his neighbor friends tonight." Pursing his lips in thought, he turns to face Brian. "No. But I will teach you how to defend yourself."

Elvis frowns, well christ she could already beat the shit out've people like a kid playin piano out in the rain. She had come for shooting lessons, which is suitably far more interesting. "Oh man, I thought I was gonna shoot shit."Complains, sure whatever. She doffs her jacket and unzips her hoody to expose the T-shirt below, and of course the Karambit at her hip. Immediately she doffs the karambit, and then two more hidden within her belt line. Then theres two pairs of brass knuckles, about five handcuff keys she's got stashed various places and a Microtech she kept clipped inside her boot. Said boots are also discarded of course, because frankly she wasnt up for killing somone accidentally."What are we learning, that army combined shit?"

"Hey Jen." Brian greets, bringing one arm around to wrap the girl in the briefest of hugs. His soft eyes then return to Diego, whom he grants a soft shrug of his shoulders. "Alright. But don't embarrass me in front of all the women." He says with a straight face. His eyes go to Elvis, but he resists rolling his eyes.

She enters from the street quietly, making her way just past the disused library entrance and stands there, letting her eyes travel slowly around the interior. She's perhaps twenty-six, five feet eight inches tall, and brunette. That brown hair is tied into a ponytail, leaving her face more exposed than normal. Including the marks near her temple from being made familiar with a chair. Her gaze moves over persons unknown and familiar, her facial expression troubled. One thing about her, for those who've encountered Cat before, is missing. She isn't carrying a guitar case.
Brian has partially disconnected.

"No, no. You, miss, are spared the beginner shit, and there's only one of me." Diego pops two latches on the smallest of the boxes and flips it open. Inside is a kind of grey fibrous backing, inside which rests a polished black 92FS .9mm Beretta semi-automatic pistol. From the small green and brown backpack, Diego retrieves a box of ammunition. Across from the cleared area is an old couch with little targets set up in front of it. "Now, these aren't ideal circumstances so lets just do the best we can with what we've got, yeah? Brian," Diego tosses a pair of the gloves said man's way, "Put these on, get your head right, and I'll be right with you." The pistol he offers to Elvis; it could be noted that he does not, in fact, throw it at her.

Elvis smiles at that"My man Diego."she offers, yes Diego had earned coolpoints. She takes the offered 92FS, and while she doesnt hold it with a startling amount of familarity she does atleast keep it pointed downrange, and with unsure hands proceeds to see if its loaded with the correct procedure. Mag, chamber, safety and then she knows exactly where she stands."You want me to wait for them to start before I start shooting?"Which is what -her- fighting gym did.

Brian catches the pair of gloves as he slowly puts them on, his brows are arched though. "Are you sure shooting that here is a good idea?" He asks of the pair of them. Though the way he says it actually says 'you should not do that.' "This is a hideout. Remember. We're supposed to hide. Not many people walk around this part of town, but some people do. We shouldn't advertise our location." His gloves are slid on quickly.
Jen looks over at the gloves, and then back, a little lost at the whole proceedings. "Should I…get out of your hair?" She looks to Brian first, then Diego, not sure if this was some kind of invited occurance she's barging into.
The woman over by the entrance starts to walk forward, her eyes on the targets and the weapons being displayed. Cat's attention shifts over to Brian when he speaks, then Jennifer, and finally toward the armed pair again. The voice speaks out clearly, her tone one of a person used to addressing audiences from a stage. "I agree with the man," she announces. "If you want target practice, take it to the woods of Connecticut or something. Here… I've been advised even playing guitar here could draw unwanted attention."

Diego sighs, shaking his head at Brian. "Really? No faith?" From the backpack comes a smaller billet case, which offers a bounty of a slim matte black cylinder. "I don't have any time to go driving out to the woods of Connecticut. Nor does anyone here want to be /seen/ going anywhere with me." He walks over and puts one hand on top of the black sidearm, using the other to screw the device onto the weapon. "Hold it like its your lover, or your bitch, whatever you prefer. Firm, but no white knuckles. And never point it at something, ever, unless you intend to shoot it." Then he looks back to Brian. "No noise, no muzzle flash. Well, nothing louder than this conversation anyway…" He shrugs. "Any other concerns?" There's nothing ass-hole-ish in his tone, its a genuine question. His hands slip into each other behind his back as he waits.

Has actually fired guns before, she's fired them alot but never with any real intent to hit anything but a beerkeg or little paper cut outs of police. With Diego's go ahead, she proceeds to slap a magazine home and jerk the slide back before letting it drop. Then, slowly she squares up and eyes the target before bringing the pistol up in a picture perfect weaver. Exactly what people were taught twenty years ago, and now what was preached against. She'll take a last look around for anyone downrange and then opens fire. She fires slowly, and with a little waver. Almost immediately, she ends up un-weavering and sliding into a particularly lazy modified weaver. Pop, pop, pop. She's hitting the targets, but she's pretty slow and not particularly consistant.

"You coulda pulled that out before." Brian notes with a little frown. And then his eyes turn to Cat. "Cat.." He murmurs softly, turning his eyes down. "I'm uh.. I'm so sorry." He offers genuinely, if a little bit awkwardly. Taking a step forward his arms raise up as if offering a hug, then dart back down in a lack of confidence.. and then back up again. Once that whole fiasco is finished, Brian looks back to Diego and Elvis shooting shit in the library. "Holy fuck. Don't you think you should do that on the roof?!" Call him old fashioned but shooting inside a building where people live, sleep, and WALK AROUND seems a little close to reeetarded.
Jennifer looks back, a bit disconcerted. Somehow it appears she's added invisibility to her power set, as her questions go unaddressed. The brunette looks at the crowd, and takes silence for assent, turning to start to depart.

Her head tilts as the silencers are added, solving the concerns about sound. Cat watches for a moment, taking in how the weapon is used by the woman she hasn't met, the event committed to memory. She doesn't say so, but her idea of adding things to the Catabase is put aside for now. Walking around the interior without having the shooters in front of her and in full view right now seems very much a bad idea. Then there's the approach of Brian and his double-taking offered hug, which she returns. The words spoken in response are quiet. "Thanks." Not just quiet, terse too. And she disengages, spotting Jennifer's movement. "Hey," she offers. "It's been a while."

"Well, the idea was to keep people from watching. Which they might do, on the roof. But lets satisfy everybody." Diego turns to Elvis and holds out his hand. "First of all- I'm not sure what to call that… its good enough for now, but we'll arrange something more suitable, a little more challenging, later when I have time to set it up." Once he has the weapon, he slips the silencer back off and re-settles the gear in their cases.
To Jen, belatedly, he says, "Don't feel like you're in our hair. This whole thing was intended as a learning experience… for you, me, anybody that can take something from it." He turns back to Brian. "Fair enough?"

Elvis almost pouts, but hey this was Diego's tea party right? So she files back to where she started, and promptly sits down right there. A lack of firearms wasnt enough to scare her away.

"Good." Brian says softly with a nod. "Just come on, I don't want somebody coming around the corner and getting popped in the face." That wouldn't be good for anyone. Stepping away from Cat, he raises one hand tentatively to her shoulder. "If you ever wanna talk.." The rest is implied. He's been through a lot of pain lately, it would be good to help someone else get out of it. And then he looks to Jen. "Got any food?"

Jennifer stops at Cat's comment, and then moreso at Diego's. "Sorry. It just seemed like you people were in some kind of "We have a plan" headspace, and I was feeling distinctly fifth wheel." She looks back to Cat with sympathy. "Hey there." she says to the other woman, a bit awkwardly. She was never good with emotional landmines. Brian gives her an out with his question. "There's probably some back on the table in the study, though the soup's probably cold by now. But as long as nobody took the last one, I can dupe up more sandwiches."

She doesn't so much want to talk. She wants to kill. But the woman who never forgets is as patient as that would imply. Her time will come. Eyes glance down at Brian's hand when it touches her shoulder, then back up to his face. It's a thing she endeavors not to telegraph, but might not succeed in. The pain, the guilt, the desire to end a life. "Thank you," Cat says again. And she turns toward the lady of neverending food. "How's school going?"

Well, now that /thats/ out of the way. Diego does go about stuffing things back in his duffel bag and sliding it a bit out of the way. Then he turns back to look at the group at large while stuffing another pair of the gloves, like the ones he already offered Brian, into a side pocket in his BDU's. "Now that we've settled down a bit, if anybody actually wants to learn something…"

Elvis thumbs over her shoulder to Brian"I'm just here to expand my horizons man."is all she offers as she notably, does -not- chainsmoke infront of everyone. Yes, Elvis is behaving for once.

"Uh.. it's really late man. I got work in the morning." Brian says softly, looking back at those gloves, now having second thoughts. "Maybe we can just go eat.. and do it later?" He suggests. Giving a firm nod in response to Cat. Then looking back to Jen. "What kind?"

Jennifer answers "Was turkey, roast beef, and veggie when I came in. I don't know what's been left there." Her eyes swing back over to Diego. "If it is a self-defense class, I'd love to learn. I feel so useless around here for anything except being the cook sometimes."
The gloves are eyed for a long moment, then Diego himself as he stuffs them into that pocket. Nothing is said about being interested in the lesson, but her attention indicates she is. At least for a moment. Mention of food draws attention back to Brian and Jennifer. "I might start bringing things in sometimes, after I get access to money again."
The gloves are eyed for a long moment, then Diego himself as he stuffs them into that pocket. Nothing is said about being interested in the lesson, but her attention indicates Cat is. At least for a moment. Mention of food draws attention back to Brian and Jennifer. "I might start bringing things in sometimes, after I get access to money again."

"Alright… we're getting somewhere." Diego waves one hand toward the little area he's cleared away for this purpose. "We'll go through a quick first lesson to give you something to build on. Just like any other skillset you need a foundation to start with, and then you add the fancy extra's later."

Elvis glances back to Jennifer, "Hey, go ahead darlin I'm an old hat at this. You got two good fighters willing to help you out, tonights your lucky night so get in there with the man."Elvis meanwhile, is starting to drain out a little. She's starting to get tired.

This time he can't resist, Brian rolls his eyes at Elvis. Turning to look at Cat. "I'm going to go get those sammiches.. If you want to come eat." He says softly, before sliding the gloves off and discarding them on Diego's bag, he then makes his way to fooood.

Jennifer looks back to Cat at the money statement. "If you need money, I can help with that." Her gaze turns to sweep the area. "That goes for everyone, actually. I mean, if you need anything like that." She moves closer to Diego, since Lessoning is apparently imminent.

"I've got money," Cat replies, "I just can't get to it yet." Curiosity, however, lingers. "If you duplicate money, how do you get around the serial number problem?" It's an aside, the question, her attention is mostly on Diego while she asks it. Watching, observing. Recording.

"Thats one problem I don't have." Diego says, before pointing to Jennifer's stomach. "Since it is late and all, I'll try and keep it real simple for now. How you stand is where everything else comes from. It establishes how quickly you can react, what will happen if something hits you, how well you can effectively move your mass, everything. Once you get used to the idea you'll be able to see it in other people… when they have weird angles, where their weight is, whether they keep their center of gravity low- with their legs a little wider, their mass in a fairly vertical line, or higher with their feet closer together and their shoulders leaning… anyway, that'll come."
Unless she stops him, D would gently adjust the way she's standing, just making slight adjustments to her hips and shoulders. Just little things. Just barely even noticable, really. "You feel that?"


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December 14th: Fathers and Daughters
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December 15th: Guilt in Common
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