Participants:
Scene Title | The Night Is Young |
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Synopsis | Prelude to a scandalous??? breezy evening. |
Date | February 14, 2009 |
Primatech Research - Lobby
With her redoubled workload and time spent in the field, it's been a while since Elle has had a reasonable amount of time to herself. And spending it /by/ herself would be boring, so what does she do? That's right. It's time to bother someone, namely: Bryan. Dressed in slacks and a crisp blouse partially covered by a gray jacket, she knocks at the door of her fellow agent's office, examining one of the pads of her fingers as she waits. Her hair is straight and neatly combed around her shoulders, her eyebrows lifted and her lips pressed into an innocent line.
"Come in."
By the sound of his voice, Bryan Buckley has found something to busy himself with. And, should Elle let herself into the small office, she'd find him just that way. Sitting in his chair, one trousered leg balanced at the ankle on his knee, a file in his lap, and one elbow perched on the arm of his chair so as to cradle his jaw in his hand. A sweater marks this Saturday evening as a casual sort of working weekend for him.
Letting herself into Bryan's office is just what Elle does, the door opening just enough for the slim woman to slip head and shoulders through, one hand coming up to rest on the door's edge as she gazes inside. "Busy, Bryan?" If he is, Elle doesn't particularly care, but it's enough to make her pause. Only a little. "Thought I'd ~drop by~ to see how you were doing." It's been a while.
Bryan doesn't turn, but the smile that slips onto his face if more than evident in his voice. "Elle," he says with that grin, a chuckle coming after it, riding a sigh. "It's been quite some time. Keeping busy? Made any progress on our little challenge?" Slowly, Bryan finishes the page he was on and closes the file, replacing it on his desk and, in the process, putting one hand and arm in Elle's line of sight.
"You can call it that," Elle says with a hint of satisfaction in her voice. She lets herself all the way in now she's sure that her company will be well-received, shutting the door carefully behind her. "Kill Squad has helped. Though even without it, I've killed more people than I even care to really remember." Rather than asking to sit, she wastes no time in sliding into the nearest available seat in the office, crossing her legs at the ankles and letting her clasped hands settled into her lap. "You, first."
"Thirty seconds," Bryan responds without missing a beat, turning his chair to look at Elle with a content sort of smile. "And yes, the squad certainly has had it's rewards." Certain skills. Opportunities. "Though I have to say, I do not like Dr. Javen as much as I did Dr. Knutson. He is prompt," with Bryan's medication, undoubtedly, "but his 'bedside manner' could use some work."
"Twenty six." The look of satisfaction on Elle's face increases. "Huruma. That monster who bit off Parkman's arm. It's a little tough, because they always seem to do little unexpected death-spasms that throw off your count, but yeah." She ends this with a light and arrogant upswing of her tone. "Javen's alright— he isn't the most /likable/ person, but once you know how to deal with him… have you heard anything about Odessa, lately? Seems like she's been MIA for /forever/."
"She was in that nasty little sect that snatched one of our projects and tried to end the world with it. I think it's safe to assume she went down with it." Bryan ignores Elle's smug victory, but he after a moment, he purses his lips before a smile breaks again. "You should send him a card. Let him know. Happy Valentines, love The Company."
"Mmm. The Vanguard." Elle looks considering for a moment. Her own expression brightens sweetly when Bryan's does. "You know, that's not a bad idea. I can put 'love, Elle' on it in little hearts." He'd wonder what the hell is wrong with her. But! "—I'd forgotten it was Valentine's Day," she adds somewhat more slyly, though truthfully.
Bryan lifts his arms, hands toward the ceiling in an attempt at a submissive sort of gesture. "I neglected to purchase you flowers, little lightning bug." He chuckles as he lowers his arms, again, knowing he is in no place at all to be buying anyone gifts, let alone a girl like Elle Bishop.
On the contary. One never knows what Elle Bishop will appreciate, and if it involves gifts? Well. One could hardly say no to that. "I'll forgive you /this/ time," she replies with what actually sounds like seriousness, leaning her elbow on the desk a short distance from her. She watches him with a lazy sort of intensity, her head cocked to one side. "Seriously, Bryan. It's been /forever/ since I've caught up with you, and all this official stuff with Kill Squad doesn't count." Her lips press together a little.
Bryan's smile twists to a suprised sort of smirk. "Caught up with me? Elle, you've got to have realized by now that I'm about as pokey-slow as your old man. Or Dalton, even. There's nothing to catch up on, honestly. I don't do any of the exciting bag and tagging, and they haven't sent me someplace warm on a job for months."
"But you /do/ kill people." Elle says this matter-of-factly. That's the most exciting anyone could be doing. Duh. "And, pff, you're not an /old man/, Bryan. Don't say that; makes you sound like some kind of disgusting old fart." A thoughtful kind of smile alights on her face. "Honestly. Nothing more exciting going on?"
It takes Bryan a moment, but he slowly shifts his weight to one side of his chair, dropping his leg to crook it over his knee as he leans on the opposite arm. "Well, I suppose I could tell you about the errant agent who left the Company years ago and has been fiddling with the idea of joining one of Montana's little vigilante groups. They aren't up off the ground yet, but you know how we like to…nip things in the bud. She was rather pretty. Desperate too, to go home with a man she met in a bar, at her age."
"Oh, of course." Elle's lips pull into an ironic sort of disdain. Outwardly, it looks like she can't imagine someone wanting to break away from the Company. That just isn't proper. "I hope you're going to tell me she was eliminated. When they start getting desperate to be away from the Company, they unravel fast. Seen it happen."
"Of course, Elle," Bryan says with an almost sadistic smile, as if he enjoyed the work. "You know how dangerous it can be out there. Snakes will get anywhere they can to stay warm."
"Good." The shortness of this does seem to indicate that Elle is genuinely satisfied. "She deserved it. And the group in Montana?" Received the same fate, she hopes.
"They're being watched." What with DHS so far up into Company business in regards to such things, they can't move as much on these matters without the legal cause to back up their actions. "But what about you, Elle?" Bryan asks with a tilt of his head. "You've kept busy, and you look as electrifying as ever."
"Oh, I have." Elle smirks a little at the use of the pun. "You know, they've taken me off the Munroe case. They said I had other things to concentrate on, and I guess they didn't consider him an 'immediate danger.'" Her slim shoulders roll into a shrug. "I wouldn't know about /that/. But just like Sabby promised, I've been hard at work… doing what I do best." Three guesses as to what that is.
Bryan hums, then chuckles. "What? Making people wish they had braved the crowds and gotten you flowers?" The other agent's smile is devilish, but maybe it's the fact that Elle's father isn't the one sitting in the office watching the surveillance footage anymore.
That's a fact that makes life indefinitely easier for Elle, too, though she's only been slowly getting used to the strange feeling of it. She /eyes/ Bryan levelly and breezily, both of her elbows now resting on the desk, hands cupped around her cheeks. "No, silly, but there's that, too."
"Well," he says with a shrug. "What if I promise to remember for your birthday? Or…" Bryan hesitates, lifting his eyes to watch Elle for a moment. She's still a child in so many ways, it hurts. "…the night is young."
February 14th: Sugar Coma? |
February 15th: Care Bear Recruiting |