Sensing The Blue Devil

Participants:

colette_icon.gif david_icon.gif kaylee2_icon.gif

Scene Title Sensing The Blue Devil
Synopsis Colette and Kaylee take some of Joseph's thinks to David Rivkin, who in turns give them another clue.
Date January 06, 2010

Dorchester Towers: David's Apartment


After being laid up for days, Kaylee's fever finally broke the night before. Of course, up to that point she took it every few hours or so, she wanted out that badly. When it finally hit 98.8 degrees, the young telepath was overjoyed. No amount of comments about how she's still sniffling would keep her homebound… there was a job too do.

"Okay.. " Kaylee murmurs, as her and her companion Colette move through the long hallway. ".. remember.. Dah-veed." She glances at the girl out of the corner of her eye. "And his place is pretty fancy.. and he's a looker too. Nice suits and all, so behave," says the telepath bundled up for winter, including scarf and cap.

Handing the photokinetic a sheet wrapped crutch, Kaylee uses the freed hand to knock on the door of David's door.

Awkwardly juggling that crutch in her arms, trying her best not to goof around on it like she so desperately wants to, the brunette teen beside Kaylee offers the blonde a furrow of her brows and a wrinkle of her nose. "I know how to pronounce his name," she chides, those words muffled but still audible through David's door. She shuffles around in the hall, bouncing her weight from one booted foot to the other, hood still up on her fur-lined suede jacket, as if that chill from outside still hasn't gotten out of her yet.

"He better be home," Colette grouses in an impatient tone of voice, "if we came all this way and he's like— I dunno— if he forgot I'm gonna…" she purses her lips, breathes in a slow, steady breath and exhales a frustrated sigh. "Sorry, m'just nervous."

David opens the door shortly after the knock. Giving the two young women a quick examination, he offers one a smile. "Kaylee. I take it you found something of interest?" Stepping back, he opens the door more widely. "Do come in, the both of you."

"Mr. Rivkin." Kaylee offers the greeting politely, giving him a bright smile, "I hope we're not imposing.. But yes, while I wasn't able to secure permission for you to get to Pastor Sumter's room, I brought what I thought might give us at least an idea." Stepping in side, she glances back at Colette.

"May I introduce you to my friend, Colette. She is also a member of the group and a close friend of Sumter's." She motions the teenager into the posh apartment. "I apologize for the delay, there were some unrelated issues." Colette gets to see how polite the young telepath can get, much different then she usually sees.

Green eyes square up from the doorway as Colette assesses the older man at the entrance. He isn't what she expected at all, not the gray-haired stuffy-shirt British gentleman that her mind had somehow worked up from some television-fueled fantasy. Dark brows lift as she moves in behind Kaylee, cradling that crutch against her chest. "I ah…" one arm struggles to keep the cloth-wrapped implement held close as she offers out a wool-gloved hand towards David. "S'nice to meet you," she introduces casually, one black brow quirked behind the ragged fringe of her bangs. "I really hope you can help us."

A pleasure to meet you, Colette." David says and clasps the offered hand firmly. "I hope so as well." Closing and locking the door behind them, he then motions to seats. "Please make yourselves comfortable. Would you like something to drink? And there's no need to stand on formality so call me David." Given that Colette isn't limping, he eyes the crutch speculatively.

"Alright, David it is." The telepath gives him a polite smile and a nod of her head, "I should tell you, we found the girl I mentioned to you before. She gave us an address, so we know for certain he's been taken by someone. Now we need to see if there are any clues as to who,"

Holding up the brown bag in her arms, Kaylee asks, "Where do you want these?" A nods goes toward Colette, giving a bit of a sniffle, evidence of her recently being ill. "We brought things we thought could be of use.. not as much as I thought there would be. The big ones are.. that crutch, a bible and well… I brought his pillow since it's the closest I could get to the bed." A smirk tugs at the corner of her mouth, "I think us carrying a mattress would have been rather weird."

Squinting one eye closed as she looks around the large apartment, Colette's gaze wanders distractedly to glass cases and antique furniture, everything in here seeming just a touch more delicate or decorative than she feels clumsily ambling around. Moving towards the afforded seats, Colette turns and lays the crutch out across the glass-topped coffee table at the center of David's furniture, mindful of how hard she lays it down. "This is one of Joe's crutches…" she offers in explanation, "he limped around on it a lot after— after some really bad stuff happened to him."

Pulling her fur-trimmed hood down, Colette ruffles her hand across the top of her messy,d ark hair and comes to settle down into one of the plush leather chairs with a creak of the glossy material. Her coat comes unbuttoned, wool gloves slid off and laid across her lap. She glances over to Kaylee, then cracks a smile at the mattress comment. "Security at the front desk prolly' woulda' smacked us pretty hard."

"Put them on the table over there." David answers and indicates the table Colette put the crutch on. "The bible is promising. The pillow has potential as well provided he didn't recently purchase it. I'm not certain about the crutch; it will depend on how long he used it. How long ago did whatever it was happen?" Smiling at the mattress comment, he goes into the kitchen to retrieve a cup of tea. Earl Grey by the smell. "Would you care for a cup?"

"Okay.." Kaylee gives a short nod and takes the bag over to the table. "I don't exactly know how long he used it really." Admits, glancing to Colette to see if she knows. Once the bag is on the table, the telepath strips off her jacket, leaving her in a dark green sweater and starts looking for a place to put it. The scarf is left around her neck for the time being.

"Is it warm? I've been getting over being sick, it would feel great on my throat… " Kaylee pauses and adds, "If it's not trouble that is."

Earl Gray, it had to be Earl Gray. Green eyes go wide and Colette enthusiastically nods her head once, "Th— that'd be awesome!" There's a sheepish smile spread from ear to ear, and Colette sits forward attentively in her chair. "He was using the crutch from like, this summer. 'Round August I think? He was pretty badly hurt back then, it was a few months, at least?" Toying with her lower lip, Colette's press of teeth against it whitens those points of contact with pressure.

Puts a tea pot on a burner and turns it on to heat while he gets out cups and fills little metal balls with loose leaves. "No trouble at all. So, just a few months? Well, we'll find out and see how useful it turns out to be. The other two items should have some very good resonances of him. Hopefully they'll be what we need." While the water heats, he puts a mix of chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies on a plate and brings them out.

Draping her jacket over the back of one of the table chairs, Kaylee gives a small nod. "I'm crossing my fingers. We don't want to go into this place blind to what we're up against. I mean.. if it's a group like the company or Humanis.. or something." Hands rest on the coat draped chair.. "Um… have you thought about what we talked about?" She holds a hand up.. to keep him from saying something until she says, "It's alright if you'd feel uncomfortable with me trying to ride along." The smile she gives is a sheepish one. "And I won't touch your mind unless you say it's okay."

One dark brow arched, Colette looks from Kaylee to David in a somewhat stupefied expression, until she finally realizes what they're talking about and lets out a quiet sound in the back of her throat. Seated forward as she is, Colette's eyes drift back to the blonde, then turn up to David. "Um, we— we really appreciate your help too, just— just so you know. I mean, this— " the brunette's nose wrinkles, "this means a lot to me, and… and Joseph's really important to all of us."

Looking up to David, then back to Kaylee, Colette offers a lopsided smile. "Is that everything?" She eyes what's laid out on the table, teeth tugging at her lower lip nervously again.

"Depending on what we find, I might want to come along." David says and returns to the kitchen as the pot begins to whistle. It must have been hot already. "You two don't seem well suited to an extraction without assistance." Though granted, he doesn't know what Colette is capable of. If she is. It's the work of moments to fill the cups so they steap and bring them out along with some honey and lemon. "As for your offer, I think not. To start with. I can always ask you to come in if I get something pertinent." Setting everything down, he looks over the three items. "I think the bible is most promising. I'll start on that."

"Perfectly fine, David." Kaylee assures with a small smile. "Oh.. one more." She reaches into the bag and removes a final item, which she handles carefully, a hand gun. It's set down with the rest just as carefully. His mention of her not being suited for extraction, the telepath can't help but chuckle. "Your probably right. I've never touched a gun hardly.. and I suck at shooting," She is slowly getting better though. The smile falls away and her eyes drop away as she admits, "My skills allow me to make the enemy do the dirty work for me. So if you can help, well… we could definitely use your help I imagine."

Taking a cup of her own, Kaylee gives him a soft, "Thank you." Warming her still chilled hands on it. "I hope something is useful.. He's been gone for almost a month, I'm getting really worried."

Puffing out her cheeks a little, Colette looks like she's about to put her foot in her mouth, but then at the very last minute keeps herself quiet. Rolling her tongue across the inside of her cheek, Colette shifts awkwardly in her seat, brows furrowed. "We— know enough," she finally adds defensively, arms folded across her chest, one darkly clad leg swinging over the other as she slouches back in her seat, brows furrowed. Her green eyes divert to the cups, scent of the Earl Grey easing some of that prideful tension.

"We'll… think about it. Help's always good but, I dont wanna' get someone hurt who doesn't have a reason to be there." Brows scrunched up, the teen leans forward and takes the teacup in both hands carefully, watching David for a moment before looking around the rest of the room, distracted by glass cabinets full of something new every time she thinks to look at a different shelf. "I um— I'll keep it in mind though. We're… kinda' short-handed at the moment." Or at least Colette's circle of mercenary friends is.

David's brow twitches as he sees the gun and reaches to pick it up. He checks the safety, pops the magazine and slides back the bolt to see if a round is chambered. It's all done with a practiced ease he doesn't need to think about. Then he puts the clip back in and sets it back down, leaving it locked open. "This is his, I take it? Strange for a man of God to carry a nine mil. But these are strange times we live in." Sitting down, he picks up the bible and idly flips through it. "All right. Let's see what there is to see…" he says and rests a hand flat on the cover.

Colette gets a look and then Kaylee sighs, before turning to David again, "He… ah…. had some tough times, with Humans burning his church and him getting hung by them… and kidnapped by them." Her shoulders lift in a small shrug, "I can't blame him really." Coming prepared, Kaylee actually pulls out a notebook with a pen hooked on the cover. "Sounds like a plan." She pulls out the chair in front of her and settles into it, with a somewhat shy smile, I figured I'd better take notes, so I dont' forget anything."

Colette is as silent as a ghost, hiding her mouth with her teacup, green eyes wide as she considers the man holding that gun of Joseph's The scent of Earl Grey calms her in the presence of a stranger with a handgun for all the lack of violent context there is. She watches him work, brows tense, and she does not even realize the way in which she is changing the color of the teacup in her hands, anxiety and anticipation making her lose concentration, causing porcelain white to turn shades of purple and magenta around where her fingers cradle the ceramic in paint-splotch fashion.

David doesn't close his eyes but he's not looking at anything in the room either. He's silent a few minutes before he says "He's a man of great faith. His belief is true and his compassion strong. But he is very troubled. He's spent many hours trying to find comfort in this book and what it teaches, soul searching and looking for answers. Or at least comfort. Most recently…" His brow furrows and he grips the book tightly with both hands. "Regret. And self loathing. He's fighting against something, something physical. He looks for strength. Whatever it is, it's dangerous and powerful. It's like a glow surrounding his essence. Blue. Bright blue. And he hates it."

Head bobbing in a nod at each of his points, Kaylee writes as fast as she can. She is concentrating so hard on getting the words down, she misses the last reference until it's on paper and she's reading it. Her breath catches in her throat, a cold hard chill settles into it. Oh god. The words go through Collete's mind, thought the voice is not her own, but Kaylee doesn't realize she's doing it.

Tongue licking her lips, she asks softly. "Blue? Bright blue…. " There is a moment, and her voice takes on a gaurded tone. "Would you say.. Glowing Neon?" She tests the word on David. Colette might know what she's asking.

Brows furrowed and looking anxious at the description of Joseph, there's a hint of regret on the girl's features. Chewing at her lower lip, the teen pauses from her staring into the muted reflection of her cup and looks up to David, listening intently. The colors around her fingers on the cup are now blacks and grays, ashen and dusty colors tinged on the edges with the worry of blue. "I… I don't undertand," she murmurs confusedly, looking between David and Kaylee. "Blue like— I— " she either doesn't know what Refrain is, or hasn't been able ot make the connection. But she can connect the dots to his emotions, to his self-loathing, and to her own sadness at hearing that state of his mind.

David sets the book down and takes a deep breath. His fingers rub against each other as if trying to get some sort of film off of them. Blinking a couple times, he looks at Kaylee at her question. "What? Neon? Perhaps; it's not really that visual. I did pick up intense craving as well if that helps. He turned to his faith to try to fight it." He doesn't seem to recognize the drug.

Blue eyes stare at the man for a long moment, a hand lifts cover her mouth. She swallows and glances at Colette. "When I was in Pinehearst… Adam Monroe took cases of a highly addictive, bright blue." The hand at her mouth, moves to motion at David. "..glowing drug.. It's called Refrain." Her voice crack at the mention of the name, which causes her to start coughing.

Taking a sip of the warm tea to calm her throat she continues, her voice soft and filled with guilt. "I was there when Adam sold it to the Dragons.. I… dammit.. " A hand presses to her fore head, shading her eyes from the others as she works on writing something down on the lined paper.

"Refrain?" Colette's green eyes go wide, so she has heard of it. "Jesus Christ," she spits out, "I— I heard about that on the news, I— Joseph's— " she's frantically treading water verbally. "I— Why would he do that!?" The colors around Colette's fingers on the cup shift through the rainbow hue towards a deep yellow. "Oh my God I can't believe he— Wh— why didn't he tell any of us?" Dark brows lift up and furrow, and the young woman's inability to understand the complexities of a middle-aged man's suffering leaves Colette ill-armed to continue that particular train of thought.

Instead, she slouches back in the chair, staring down into her cup with a horrified expression on her face, eyes glassy in their quality. "Joseph…"

David picks up his tea and takes a couple sips before responding. "A highly addictive drug? That would certainly account for what I was feeling. You can take some comfort in that he was definitely fighting it." As Colette mentions the news, he pauses to think. "I think I might have heard about it now you mention it. I didn't pay a lot of attention to the report though." He indicates the other items. "Do we need to continue?"

"Yes…" Kaylee's voice cracks on that single word and she has to clear her throat before she can reply. "Yes, please.." The hand lowers from her face to hold her paper still. "See if we get anything else from some of the other stuff.. "

"Joe's strong…" Colette murmurs as she stares down into the muted reflection she leaves in the surface of her tea. Wringing her hands around it more as a point of comfort than a true beverage, she nods her head to David's question. "If— if you can, please. We gotta' figure out anything we can," she admits weakly, eyes scanning over the table when they break away from the steaming cup, but unable to meet Kaylee's eyes after that admission; At least not yet.

David nods and sets his cup down so he can pick up the pillow. After a few moments, he just shakes his head. "Nothing useful. He'd wake at night, craving the drug. Tossing and turning, the lack of the drug wracked his body." He puts the pillow back down and reaches for the crutch. "That's it for the pillow…" The crutch he turns over in his hands as he tries to make sense of what he's picking up. "Pain. Not from the drug but whatever happened to his leg. Frustration that he needed its support. Anger over what caused it. But that's older and trails off as if he stopped using it recently." Shaking his head, he swaps it for the gun without pausing. Staying silent, the minutes pass before he sets it back down on the table. "Nothing. If he ever used it in anger, I can't pick it up. It has no strong resonances, not for him or any of the other owners. Of which there have been several. He probably got it on the street, it being sold to one after another. I wouldn't be surprised if it's been used in a crime and on record with the police." That being said, he reaches for a napkin and starts wiping it down.

The telepath manages to stay quiet through it all, just writing a couple of notes on a few of the things. Rereading everything, Kaylee sighs softly. " Okay… well.. Not what I was hoping for… but…." She trails off, looking over the notes again. "I… really hope he didn't have a run in with any dealers… " There is actually a bit of dread at the thought. "But he was fighting it…. though… what if he was going for more when he got caught."

Shoulders slump visibly, but she gives the man a small smile. "Thank you, David… this does put some things into light though." Finally, she glances over at Colette briefly.

It's a hard fought nod, but a nod none the less. Colette swallows back something better left unsaid, and finishes her tea with a long draught from the glass, color on the edges of the ceramic she's touching fading back to its natural colors. She leans forward, setting the glass down and shakes her head slowly. "I'll talk to my dad, see if he knows anything about Refrain dealers and who to talk to." Colette nods her head a couple of times.

Squinting, Colette looks down at the table for a moment, recalling something. "A— Actually, I… there's someone I might want to talk to first." She gets up, slowly, swinging one foot down to the floor and pushing herself up to stand straight. "Thank you, David," there's a nod of her head, getting the pronunciation correct, amazingly. When she looks to Kaylee, it's with a guarded expression that hides something, cueing her in to tune in to Colette's brain.

Robert Caliban.

It's shared by way of a forced though to the psychic. He works at the Suresh Center, when I went in there on — ooh he's got a little glass elephant that's so cute — looking for someone I saw him there. I saw signs for a Refrain Anonymous meeting when I met him — that tea was so good — gave me his card so I could get in touch with him.

She's not really good at keeping her thoughts straight.

David nods then stands up, taking the gun with him into the kitchen. There's a bit of rummaging around before he returns with a plastic baggy now containing the gun. Ziploc fresh. "At least you now know what trouble he's been in. Maybe you can use that to narrow down his movements."

Folding the book closed, Kaylee lets her mind brush against Colette's, letting her touch be a bit heavy so the girl knows she's there. On the outside, thanks to training there is not much evidence of the mental conversation. Okay… Is all Colette gets in return, the light pressure stays for a moment longer to make sure the teen doesn't have anything else, before the touch fades.

Kaylee gives David a soft smile. "I owe you one." She states simply as she climbs to her feet and starts placing items in the bag again. "And I'll call you if we need your help."

Moving to pick up the crutch, Colette lays it across her arms and furrows her brows, green eyes searching David for a moment before settling that look back on Kaylee. "I'll meet you outside," she says in a hushed tone of voice, before settling her eyes on David again with an affirmed nod of thanks. She's tense, and that experience of seeing David lift life and memories from an object — especially those particular experiences — has left Colette a little rattled.

She moves for the door, crutch held in one arm, and her free hand searching for her phone. It's taken out as she shows herself out, a little rudely — but she's young and prone to those mis-steps. Out in the hall, as she's shutting the door, whoever she's calling on the other line picks up. "Oh ah, hi— This— This is Nicole Nichols, I'm looking for Mr.Caliban?" Then there's just the soft click of the door being shut.

Colette has more work to keep her mind busy.

David nods back to Colette and lets her see herself out as he turns back to Kaylee. "Good luck on finding your man and getting him back. If you need anything else, give me a call. In advance. A half hour later and I wouldn't have been here."

"Not my man…. just… a friend." Kaylee offers with a sheepish smirk, her cheeks might be coloring slightly, hard to tell really, while pulling her jacket back on in preparation to leave. "And I'll make sure it's in advance. I was just anxious since I was down and out for awhile ill." Picking up the brown bag and cradling it in one hand, she offers the other to him. "Thank you. I mean it. For this.. and well, the tea as well. I'll be in touch, David."


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