Participants:
Scene Title | The Blue Pill |
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Synopsis | Devi finds her first recruit in the imperssionable form of Agnes. She takes the girl under her 'wing'. |
Date | August 10th, 2009 |
A place that used to be a cafe and is making a slow progression towards being a dive bar. During the day, the balcony and a good portion of the sidewalk is taken up by outdoor chairs and tables, where people can enjoy a beer as well as a sandwich or whatever else is on their menu - a decent, if simply array of bar food. During the evening, unless it's a warm night, these are taken inside, and the kitchens are closed. A wide variety of beer is available, along with hard liquor and maybe a few wine labels, but nothing fancy. The interior decor is similar to traditional British pubs, with a hardwood bar and brick wall. There's an old pool table towards the back, along with a dart board. The building is actually two storeys high, but whatever is upstairs is inaccessible to the general public.
Devi's dark Ducati is pulled up onto the sidewalk, a few stragglers on the balcony giving the bike a once over as they mingle amongst themselves in the warm night. The tattooed vixen doesn't pay them much mind, looking up only from time to time through the haze of a smoke trailing from her crimson painted lips. She's garbed in a attire befitting her attitude - a leather vest that zips up to just below her sternum, flaunting an array of tattoos as well as her little navel, and a pair of fit denim jeans tucked into knee-high riding boots.
The dark femme flicks the ash of her joint into the nearest ashtray before pinching the rollie between her lips and leaning over the pool table, flashing her opponent a quick wink before she sinks the ebon eightball, marking the end of the game by snagging a few bills from where they're perched on the corner. "Better luck next time, sweetheart."
Despite the all-black of her current ensemble, Agnes leans a little more towards punk than goth with tonight's outfit, with torn jeans and a studded jean jacket that's been pierced halfway up one arm with silver safety pins. She wears several heavy necklaces in addition to the usual chunky rings, and tonight's high platform soles finish off a pair of ankle boots, the black leather all scuffed, and the laces a violent day-glo green.
This is really not a place she's been before, and she strolls in with her charcoal-lined eyes wide. The bike did get a glance from her, appreciative without really being able to truly recognize its worth. Since watching the game of pool in progress is something to do that doesn't involve simply hanging around awkwardly by herself, she heads over the direction, only to find herself a little disappointed upon discovering the game has just finished in time for her to reach the table.
Devi is slipping the fold of bills between the flesh at the front of her shoulder and the clinging hide of her vest when she turns around and takes in the youngin' nearby spying on the billiard table. "Hey, shortie," she comments, a devilishly sweet smile tickling up the corner of her lips. Her dark gaze gleams in the low lighting of the pub as her gaze wanders over Agnes's frame - scrutinizing, judging. She lifts a hand then and takes the rolled piece from her lips, twisting it in her fingers and offering it out towards the girl with a smile. "Care for a round?" She nudges her head back towards the table and rest the end of her cue on the toe of a boot.
Agnes hesitates only a moment, before shrugging her shoulder and giving her hair a casual flick. Hey man, she's cool. A step or two forward, and then she reaches for the joint, holding it more like a cigarette than anything. But at least that smoking she does aids her in being able to take a drag without hacking and dying. Expelling the smoke, she offers the joint back like one cool chick, and then eyes the table, considering that offer. "Sure. Though I haven't really played in awhile. And I have, like, no money to win," she points out somewhat wryly. There's no move to immediately take up a cue or anything, since she's half-sure these facts, when coupled together, might make her much less appealing to play against.
The smoke and its smoking are observed with a lofted brow and a tilted smirk. Devi accepts the piece back without comment and snags a last drag before snuffing the joint out in the nearest bottle of beer. "For shits and giggles, then," Devi responds. She hands over her cue and steps off to the wall to collect another. "Whatcha doin' out here, kiddo?" She inquires back over her shoulder. She gives a little nudge of her chin to the loser of the last game, who begins to reset the table as Devi returns to Agnes's side and flags the barkeep with a precious smile and a little wave of her fingers. "Seem a bit small to be hangin' 'round here this late…"
As if on cue, to prove the biker's point, the sounds of crashing glass and a few drunken fists can be heard out on the balcony. Devi glances over Agnes's head with a slight scowl.
"Yeah, all right," Agnes replies, her shrug indifferent, but her expression a little too pleased to really sell that apathy. Heading over to the nearest rack, she eyes the cues, trying to size them up and figure out which is the smallest. "Maybe I'm older than I look," she replies, glancing back over her shoulder for a moment, before turning back to make her selection. Before she can do so, the sounds of fighting gets her to crane her neck up at the balcony in one heck of a hurry. "Geez," she mutters under her breath, finally just snagging a cue at random and heading back over to the table. "Anyway," she goes on, sparing another sidelong glance to the general direction of the fisticuffs, "Still sorta trying to find a place. This seemed as good as any to hang out, y'know?"
Devi grins and holds up her hands in mock surrender. "Alrighty, kitty, perhaps you are older than you look." She chuckles as she spins about and snags two bottles of the beer from the bar, the opaque, brow glass clicking as each bottle dangles from between her fingers before she returns and offers one out towards Agnes. "Well, nice to have ya 'round. Thought I'd drown in the testosterone out here." The sounds of the brawl wane quickly - most patrons of the bar were too buzzed to do aught but throw a few sluggers and then trudge off. Devi gives only a last slip of her dark gaze towards the balcony to assure her sweet, metallic baby is unharmed by the crude scuffle.
The man finishes setting the table for the ladies, offers a goofy grin in their direction, and slips away. Before Devi takes up a place to break the set, she offers a hand - exposing that even the back of her hands and select segments of flesh between each knuckle have been tattooed - towards Agnes. "Devi," she offers and tips her chin back, apparently expecting an intro in turn.
"Yeah, it's sort of a, uh, different crowd than I'm used to," Agnes replies, as if she hangs out in these sorts of places all the time, merely with a different crowd. She reaches forward to take the beer, grinning and lifting it in salute. "Thanks." She takes a swig of the sudsy liquid, lowering the bottle and then taking another glance towards where the brawl seems to no longer be happening. Probably for the best. Looking back, there's another grin at the introduction, and she shakes the offered hand, her shake not especially firm but not too limp either. "Agnes. Aggie. Whichever."
Both thin, dark brows twitch a small degree higher as a few strands of dark hair fall to cover one of Devi's equally dark eyes. "Agnes, eh? Parents never wanted you to get laid, Kitty?" It's hard to determine whether or not the biker has dubbed the young girl in the name of a cute feline, or by her age in the form of 'Kiddy'. Either way, it seems to have stuck already and to be quite preferred over the name she's been given.
Devi steps in line with the white orb on the velvet billiard table, lengthy frame bent over the cue which, in turn, breaks the triangular collection with a sharp SNAP. She straightens and makes a gesture of turning the table over to Agnes. "You should come hang out more often. I'm aiming to get together a group of people like yourself. Sorta crowd you might appreciate. What sorta things you do for fun, kit?"
"Not before marriage, anyway," Agnes mutters derisively, of her parents, rolling her eyes at that idea. Maybe it was intended as a rhetorical question, but it cannot pass without an answer, it would seem. If she minds the nickname, she doesn't show it. Then again, going by Agnes, maybe anything is an improvement on that. Standing back, she watches as the woman breaks, her dark gaze following the spread of the balls. "Really?" She tries not to sound too surprised at being invited back, the word sounding a little awkward as she tries to morph it into vague disinterest about midway through. "Fun? Oh, you know. Mostly I just hang out. I kinda just got back to the city, so I'm still … looking for a scene, I guess." She's a little distracted as she takes her place at the table, having to figure out some sort of shot here. And of course, it's a swing and a miss for the rookie, so she straightens back up and stands aside again.
Devi chuckles, a warm and flirtatious sound on her husky alto - as if she had once claims a honey-smooth and warm tone that was now kissed eternally by the rasp of bitter whiskey and resembled only slightly its past, sweet tone. "Fuck yeah!" Devi chimes up, building Aggie's hesitant surprise into something more enthusiastic. It's then most obviously clear that the biker has taken a liking to the girl.
There was something about the youngin - its obvious she sits on the brink, uncertain about the intentions of life, fate, the world - she must've seen something, experienced something, but just enough to keep her hopeful. It reminded Devi of her younger self - a fact that both saddened and tickled her, though that didn't particularly show. "I'm pretty new to the big NYC, actually." She waggles her brows and sets up the next shot, sinking two balls in turn before missing the third and backing away to make room for the little one.. "Got some plans up my sleeve that you might be just perfect for, actually - if you're aiming to make a bit of cash, some friends, and some crazy ass memories." She lofts a brow and tips the base of her beer towards Agnes in a half-assed salute before taking a sip of the brew.
The laughter seems to help set Agnes more at ease, or perhaps that's the beer beginning to sink in. She rests the end of her cue on the ground, one arm dangling from it as though it were a flag and she claims this land in the name of the King. The other hand is used to take another sip of that delightful beer. Lowering the bottle, she grins at the woman's enthusiasm. "Plans, huh? Well, y'know, I don't think I'd say no to any of those three things. God knows I could do with them all." There's a wryness there, but any deprecation is only of her own lack of money, friends and life experience. "What sort of thing were you thinking?" With a curious look, she steps up to take her turn. Which is short-lived again, though one ball almost goes in this time. Aggie grimaces slightly as her hopes of making an actual shot are dashed, and then taking up her beer again, she steps back to let Devi at it.
Devi eyes the ball that balances on the brink of the pocket, as if condemning the inanimate object for being so uncooperative for the newbie. Her gaze flicks back up to Aggie, though, as her fingers banish those pitch-hued locks from before her sharp features. "Nothing too heavy at first, Kitty. Let you crash at my place, if ya'd like. Not that you'll find any trouble from the law 'round here. We could start by havin' you keep an eye out - I'll pay you for each tidbit of info or prospective member you bring my way. If you're up to the challenge, though, you'll make more dough and friends in passing on some of my goods." Her index and forefinger dip away into the opposite shoulder of her vest, pinching a little baggy which is tossed onto the corner of the billiard table for better viewing. Grass. Harmless, right? Devi's grin is delightfully devious as she lines up her next shot, sinking another ball before a miss turns the table back to Aggie. The table and the spotlight, that is.
Agnes considers all this with a pensive expression, though she tries to keep from seeming like she's taking it too seriously. Surely she gets offers for this sort of thing all the time, no doubt. She takes another long pull from the bottle of beer as she considers this, her gaze then falling to the baggie as it's tossed out into view. And, of course, there's that telltale quick glance about to make sure no one saw that. But friends, money… And it isn't as though she's being asked to do anything serious here, right? "Yeah, I … could probably handle that," she agrees, slow to realize it's her turn. But upon realization, she comes to with a start, heading up to it quickly and with a slightly sheepish smile. But maybe the delay helped, since this time she actually manages to sink one of those darn things. Of course, she'd been going for a different one, but hey. She never called anything. "Oh hey!" she exclaims with a little triumph, so unaccustomed to actually making the shot that she starts to walk away. And then has to turn back to take her follow up one. Of course, that time nothing happens, so all is once more right with the world. Still, the victory has put her in a good mood indeed as she steps back. "As for crashing, well, I mean, I am kinda burning through a lotta cash stayin' at this shitty motel, but … you don't think that'd be a little weird?"
Devi leans back, rolling her pool stick between her palms as she observes Aggie, offering no word or gesture to interrupt the length of time the girl contemplates the offer. She grins, though, as she watches the goofy reactions and mistakes to the successful shot before straightening back up. "Weird? There's not much I find weird now'days, Kitty. Besides, I've been 'cross the country and had my share of crashin' at people's houses. I got some room, consider it a share of good karma, yeah?"
The biker leans her cue against the nearest chair, apparently ignoring the game in favor of more something more important. She steps forward and pinches a few objects from her back pocket - a key, a business card that bares her number on one side and the impression of a large, dark raven on the other, and the wad of cash she'd finagled from the loser of the last pool game. She sets the selection beside the little baggy of pot.
"Well, yeah," Agnes has to allow, grinning wryly and a little self-consciously as she flicks her hair back out of her eyes. "I guess 'weird' is sort of graded on a scale these days." She seems to be seriously considering it, watching the older woman thoughtfully. "Though I dunno if I'm actually owed or owing karma. Gets hard to keep track, y'know?" That's not said in real seriousness though, and it turns somewhat distracted as her dark gaze follows the various items being pulled from the pocket and set down on the edge of the table. "So is that, like, the blue pill?" she guesses, eyes flickering back up to Devi. There's definite temptation there, though still just a bit of hesitance. Lame humour helps with the nerves, at least.
Devi's smile widens into a sweet grin. "Nah. But, I got those too," she jests back in turn. "It is a take it or leave it deal, Kitty. But, I can tell you already know the world isn't like what they're spittin' out in the movies, yeah? I'll be your Morpheus," she continues with a sly expression, "and your morphine, but I'm not asking you to change the world - just to be yourself and live a little." She polishes off the last of her beer, even as her dark gaze remains anchored on the little girl, and rests her hip to the edge of the billiard table in a casual stance.
Feeling that her cred is probably on the line here, Agnes decides that the time to hesitate is through. Well, nearly. There's still a brief pause, before she nods - as much to herself as to Devi - and then steps forward to claim the items that are laid out. "So what exactly do I gotta do?" she inquires, perhaps just a touch anxious as she quickly crams the baggie away, deep inside a pocket. The money and the business card remain out though, to be studied, and gesturing with the wad of bills, she notes, "I know nothing comes without a price. I just prefer the prices you can see."
Devi lifts both hands to display her palms, as if to show that she has nothing up her nonexistent sleeves. "That's it. I need info, riders, and a little help in getting my goods out there." She smiles. "Not everything in life has to be tough, girly. Prove yourself and it only gets better from here. Alright?" Devi flashes a quick wink. "'Fraid I'm going to have to call a rain check on our game, though, Kitty. I'll catch ya at the apartment, but I've gotta run for now." She turns away and pulls a key from her pocket, swinging the little finger around her index finger as she makes from the door.
"Um, okay," Agnes replies, offering a bit of a grin to that. There's still a bit of apprehension, but it's hard to feel too worried what with Devi seeming so easy going about the whole thing. And really, as far as prices go, that one doesn't seem as steep as some… Maybe later there will be a bit of 'oh my God, what have I done?', but for now, Aggie just grins to herself, looking over the card one more time before tucking everything away. "Okay, see you, uh, later, I guess!" she agrees, calling after the woman.