Participants:
| Scene Title | Seen In a New Light |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Melissa goes to pick up an evolved to take to the Den and discovers she's already met Luke. |
| Date | February 26, 2010 |
Luke's name has spread through the proverbial grapevine, and finally that and his hotel have been passed onto Melissa. She shows up dressed for the weather, and with a smile on her face. Clearly she intends to make a good first impression, since she doesn't know that she's already made a bad one! So she stops in front of his door, draws in a deep breath, then knocks. Confident she may be, but this is her first shelteree pickup since taking partial charge of the Den!
People keep on knocking on his door. Having cleaned up the room since Wendy and Peyton visited, it's looking more like a hotel room and less like a disaster area, so at least Luke has that in his favor. Going to the door, he peers out through the spy hole, then rolls his eyes upwards. Oh geez, it's her? "Who is it?" he asks, delaying the meeting a bit just because.
Melissa nods a little, seeming pleased by his cautiousness. Or what she sees as cautiousness anyway. "A friend. My name's Melissa," she says, just loud enough to carry to him.
Oh well, since it seems like she's the one… with a sigh, Luke opens the door a crack, peering suspiciously at her. "It's you then, huh?" he asks.
Melissa's smile slowly fades when she realizes who's on the other side of the door, then she lets out a soft, muttered curse. "Well hell. Yeah, it's me. I didn't know it was you though," she says, sighing and shoving her hands in her pockets. "Gonna let me in?" Must be professional, must be professional…He's an evo in need.
An evo in need who can melt your face off! Aaaanyway. "All right." he mutters right back and takes a step away from the door to give her enough room to come in.
Melissa steps inside, glancing around the room as she moves several steps away then turns. "So I hear you need some help, Luke. You got a problem with it bein' me who helps you?"
"Not really." Luke admits. "I mean, sure, we got off to a bad start, but…" he can take it like a man! "It's not like we hate each other's guts. I've suffered worse insults in middle school than what you said to me." wow, that kind of a backhanded compliment.
Melissa's brows lift, and her lips twitch slightly. "Same. Besides, right now? I'm your best friend." She moves over to the bed, flopping down onto it. "So you got whatever you wanna take with you? Or you need a few?" She grins, impishly. "And can I call you Microwave man?"
"That sounds kinda lame. Like I sell microwaves or something." Luke doesn't comment on either her words or her action of flopping on his bed. "I don't have anything." he adds, spreading out his hands. "Except for a few things I, uh.. well, the lady's got a bill." he moves towards the bathroom to grab the toiletries and stuff, and quickly returns with a small bag.
Melissa's head tilts. "A bill? And unless you're expectin' me to pay it right now, not really too worried about that." She sits up and her face goes serious. "What kind of trouble are you expectin' to come for you, if you don't hide for a little bit? Answer me that, and I'll take ya to where you can stay."
"Well I was at Moab and escaped, likely the government isn't all that thrilled." considering the government locked him up in the first place, Luke has justifiable paranoia. "Especially with me being considered 'highly dangerous'. And that Wendy lady's footing the bill."
Melissa's brows shoot up. "You too, huh? Same here. Did ya get out when everyone else did?" she asks, rising to her feet.
"Yeah, although I didn't know what the hell was going on since I was stuck in that damn solitary confinement at the time. One minute I was bored out of my mind in a tiny room, the next I was in Louisiana about to get eaten by a fucking alligator." Luke snorts. "It's not like I tried to escape or anything."
Melissa's lips curve into a wry smile and she nods. "Yeah, I know whatcha mean. I ended up about an hour or two away, best I can figure. But I can understand not wantin' to get caught by the government again." She moves towards the door, giving a little nod towards it. "C'mon. I'll take ya someplace safe."
"I was two weeks later." Luke frowns. "What the hell was that, anyway? I'm glad it wasn't just me because I was freaking out there. And I didn't really meet anyone else who was there too, so…"
Melissa laughs and nods. "Yeah, got that too. But no, not just you. There're a couple other people here in the city who were in Moab. But I'll let them introduce themselves. But you ready?"
"Yeah, I'm ready." Luke lifts the bag as emphasis. "Let's go then."
Melissa nods and opens the door. "Hope you don't mind a bit of a walk," she says, before beginning the semi-lengthy walk to the Den.
Melissa is quiet once reaching Roosevelt island, right up until they get down into the Den proper and to one of the rooms meant for shelterees. "This'll be your room while you're here. Few quick rules. No lights in this part of the building at night. Don't tell anyone about this place, and don't bring anyone here unless they're cleared by me first. You draw attention to this building, we're gonna have words." A faint smile touches her lips. "And I don't mean light words like in the park," she says, sounding almost teasing.
Luke snorts. "Hah, I don't think I'll have a problem with any of that." he replies, looking around and setting the bag on the nearest flat surface aside from the floor. "Am I allowed to leave if it gets too boring here though?"
Melissa nods. "Yeah, this isn't a prison, it's just a safe place for you to stay. Just make sure you're not followed or anything like that. After all, this place won't be safe for me to bring people if everyone knows about it. And sure as hell not if the government finds out about it."
"Well of /course/, that's the whole point of a safehouse." maybe it's not the best idea to sass the lady in charge, but Luke's kind of a deviant anyway. "I don't trust anyone regardless."
Melissa doesn't seem to mind the sass, and actually grins. "Smart man. But let me know if you need anything." She pulls out a card from her pocket, with nothing on it but for a phone number. "If I'm not here, this is my cell. It's always with me and on."
"All right." Luke takes the card and stuffs it in his pocket. "Er… where can I get a change of clothes? I don't have any money and stealing stuff draws too much attention from the wrong kind of people."
Melissa grins and her pocket is delved in again, and a coin purse looking bag pulled out. A couple bills are tugged out and handed over. "Have fun shoppin'."
"Thanks." Luke quickly makes the money disappear. "We supposed to fend for ourselves with food too?" he mentally counts the money he was just given, hand still in his pocket as he separates the bills.
Melissa shrugs. "You want steak tartar or lobster tails, you're on your own. But there's plenty of food here. That room we first came in at? With the couches'n TV and all that? There's food there."
"All right. I've been living off of bags of chips and stuff for a week, this'll do just fine." Luke smirks at Melissa. "Besides, it's not like I need a microwave or anything so your electric bill won't be so high."
Melissa laughs and nods. "Yeah, suppose there's that. Should I stock up on a bunch of TV dinners and nukeable burritos or something? Hot Pockets, maybe?"
"Sure." Luke stretches then. "So… I guess I'll see you later. Or not, whatever. Doesn't really matter."