Participants:
| Scene Title | There Are People On My Walls |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Liz comes over after a red eye from training to see about Tanya's death and spread a message. Also to point out the wallpaper. |
| Date | February 2, 2010 |
Though one might remember when a certain fiery woman lived here… Now the living area above Old Lucy's has changed hands. The open living room and kitchen are homey, a commingling of two people's tastes. The leather couch sits kitty corner to a one of red suede and a bit smaller. A large bird cage for it's budgie inhabitant takes up it's own corner beside dark paneled walls. Bookshelves with literary pieces of a variety both academic and not take up another small section.
The kitchen is large, with a rolling wood and black marble island to give more counter space to work on. Pots and pans hang from the roof and track lighting keeps it not gloomy. A proper oak dining table has been set up with matching chairs instead of the 70's castoff that the residents have been known to own and a bowl of fresh fruit sits in the center.
Down a hall lay's multiple doors. A master bedroom occupied by the oldest resident and occasionally have a pervading smell of whiskey and smoke coming from it when the door is open. A second door with a cross above it, a third with no marking that is occupied by the third resident of the premises. Two other doors lead to a linen closet and bathroom - Decorated in a very strong pirate theme - respectively. A black cat with a red velvet collar and a little swarovski charm dangling from it can be found meandering at will.
She called before she showed up at the bar because that's just good manners. She's back in Manhattan several days early, and Elisabeth is worried about her friend. She stopped in the bar to tell Brenda and the rest of the girls how sorry she is about Tanya. And then she makes her way upstairs to lightly knock on Abby's apartment door. When the now-brunette opens the portal, Elisabeth studies her for a long moment before stepping over the threshold and merely wrapping her arms around Abby. "I'm sorry," she says simply. She won't hold Abby longer than the other woman wants, but it's all she knows to do to offer comfort too.
That she knew the other woman was coming, meant that she could have stuff out to nibble on and hot tea like a proper hostess. Brenda and the gang below we're back to work after the two days hiatus post Tanya. The exit to the alley had been open but thye fetched the supplies in tandem for now.
So when liz opens the door, there's no move made by Abby to move out of the way or to make the hug quick. Liz, along with Teo and a very select others are ones that she has no real issue touching, or reamaining in an extended hug. "Hey, come in, I got tea cakes and baloney cake"
Liz smiles faintly and briefly touches her lips to the other woman's hair before finally stepping away and walking further into the apartment. "Do I even want to know what the heck a baloney cake is?" she asks wryly. "Or is it some Southern scary thing that I'm just better off knowing nothing about?" She briefly glances around the place and asks, "Teo and Francois come back to the city with you, lady?"
"Baloney cake is just baloney cake. Cream cheese and baloney. Southern thing. Teo refuses to touch it. COmfort food for me, but I got other things for you" The door is closed behind her, school duffel by the door and the shotgun as always. "Uhh, no. Well Teo came after. Francois had some places he wanted to visit first but I gave him the number for the teleporter I know. Worried about him" Especially in light of how he was much like he was post russian stoning.
"when are you heading back? I'm surprised that they'd even let you out of there till the weekend Liz"
"Yeah, I'm worried about him too," Elisabeth says softly, her brows furrowing as she sets down a backpack that looks a bit heavy just inside the door. She manages to restrain a flinch at the idea of baloney and cream cheese together. Definitely a Southern thing. "I'm heading back on the redeye," she admits. "Basically, we've all been given the opportunity to head back to New York anytime we want on the government's dime. And it's only an hour's flight … and I've got people going fucking insane while I'm out of town." She grimaces. "Sorry.. potty mouth." She shoves a hand through her loose hair and slips out of her jacket. "I'd love a cup of tea, actually. It's cold out there." And she walked from Midtown to give herself time to think.
"Really? On their dime? you'd think that they'd be making you pay out of your pocket or just weekends, with the economy" but then again, this is the government, and she IS part of frontline. Must keep them happy. "Things not going well down at the library?" There's a gesture for Liz to follow her in, though the blonde is familiar with the territory and where things are kept. Teapot covered in cozy waits to warm up the woman and bring her back from the cold. "Teo translated the note for me"
As she walks through the library, Elisabeth says quietly, "Well, it's a bit of a ragtag group and Richard was the glue that held us all together, really. He was … the fulcrum. I'm not sure I can keep us moving forward, but I'm giving it a damn good shot." She hesitates and says quietly, "Actually, Richard is something I wanted to talk to you about. I found…. where he was living." She grins just a little. It was … entertaining to try to get into the place. You should see some of the things I brought out." She shrugs a little. "There's a lot of…. jewelry and artwork. Good eye for quality stuff."
"You can liz. You won't be the same as him, but I'm sure that you can. Have faith in it, in you and them and you can do as good a job as him. you can't replace Richard, but you can be the next best thing" Chairs are pulled out and by rote, with care and obviously a great deal of love for the simple act of pouring tea, sugar, cream, pushing a plate of finger foods towards the blonde, Abigail plays host till she's done serving liz before going on to pouring her own cup.
"He was a thief Liz, what did you expect? I think I was the only person he never robbed. I was in staten, in the basement and I told him to go to my safety deposit box and get out the money to pay my rent. And he did, took out exactly what I told him and he paid it. Told me that I wasn't the kind of person he stole from" This gives her pause and she looks over. 'Not that I condone his stealing, nor did I condone Moab or .. any other things that folks have done. But.. That was Richard"
There's a bit of a smile playing about the corner of her lips. Elisabeth says softly, "I need to tell you something." She sips from her teacup and then sets it down, making sure Abby's not drinking anything when she says quietly, "Francois's not the only one who survived, Abby." She bites her lip. "I got… a message."
her hands are around her mug, one cupping, the other stirring in a bit sugar to go along with her confused look. "What do you mean Liz? That Francois wasn't the only one…" The brunette's confusion is retty genuine and she looks away and down to her mug as if trying to think who it might be that's yet another living dead person. "Gabriel?"
"No," Elisabeth replies softly, instinctively enclosing the two of them in a bubble at the table, as if she's afraid someone could overhear. Paranoia on this little tidbit is rampant. "Richard, Abs. Don't ask me how…. but he's alive. Last I heard, he was in Argentina." She blows out a breath. "He's… keeping it very quiet. So you and Claire are the only other two who know what I know."
"He ate a nuclear bomb Liz" Abigail regards the other woman kitty corner to her. "You don't survive eating a 100 tonne bomb Liz. That's not Richard"
There's a soft laugh. "Yeah, babe…. yeah it is." It's taken Elisabeth this long to really wrap her head around it. "Because there is not another human being in the world who would send me the message that 'even carbonite didn't stop Han Solo.'" The blonde looks down at her teacup to hide the shimmer of tears. "Believe me, Abby. It's him."
The star wars reference is frankly lost on Abigail. She didn't watch that movie with leonard, just one of the other ones. Whether it really is Richard or not though, had her still looking at Liz like she's gone crazy. It's quickly followed up with a back of her palm gently laid to the woman's forehead. "You are forgetting that we spent time in Russia with a telepathic illusionist who made us see a guy who was not in Russia, yes? Could pick stuff out of our head?" Abigail's worried, confusion giving way to that particular emotion.
'Kozlow's in New York, or was in New York. So, by me telling you this, what are the odds that someone else is fucking with you too?"
Looking up, Elisabeth says softly, "Not unless Dahlia in Argentina was standing on an aircraft carrier when I called Richard a Nerfherder to his face, Abigail." She knows it's hard to believe. Hell, it's taken her a week of waffling between hope and despair to to be able to say the words out loud. "The message was sent through her to Raith. He came to the library personally. Whatever Richard did… however he pulled that nuke into the shadows with him…. he survived it, Abby." She snickers when the brunette puts her hand on Liz's forehead. "Danko survives, and this doesn't faze you a bit — Francois survives and you don't blink. Hell, Abby, how many people have we seen come back from the dead? Up to and including me?" She puts her hand up and captures Abby's hand with hers, meeting the now-brunette's eyes with an intense look. "It's him. And he's up to something. I swear to God, Abby, it's him…."
And only then does it hit her. "Kozlow is in New York? What the hell??"
Because Danko was in her bar, and Francois rode up in the desert. Because she actually saw them whereas Richard is via word of mouth. Finger twine and hold onto Liz's and she produces a smile for the frontline officer. "Okay, I'll believe you, but if someone's messing with you, they're going to be sorry" Though she nods her head to the exclamation about Kozlow. 'The cyrillic love note"
There's a bit of a chuckle at that. "Abby… if someone's fucking with my head, let me tell you something? They're going to be beyond sorry. And if he doesn't get his ass home soon? He is going to be sorry, cuz I might just break that cute nose of his." Elisabeth squeezes Abby's hand tightly. And then she shifts the topic to Kozlow worriedly. "So… Christ…. that's bad. Have you told anyone? I told Abby and Mack to keep an eye on the place for you. Who've you got working?" And then she stops. "Oh, God, Abby…. Tanya?"
'Teo knows, cause I had him translate the note. Delilah, but she doesn't know who wrote it, just that I got a really creepy note." She recites the note from memory, having stared at it enough to have done so and really, given the context of who it came from, calling it a love note might be more than pushing it. "What about Tanya?" A twinge of guilt at the mention of her deceased bartender. "People get shot in this neighbourhood Liz, New york isn't exactly safe and she was dressed like a bartender and had her apron. Money tends to be a motivator and there's usually a great deal of money in our aprons at any given time"
Elisabeth nods just a bit and frowns. "Who picked up the case? I can keep tabs and harass the hell out of people til they solve it. The girls shouldn't be goign outside with their aprons on, though," she says quietly. As if Abby doesn't already know that. "I'm sorry. Ignore me. You know what you're doing." She sighs. "Shit. That, I think, needs to get told to Kershner and the NYPD like yesterday. Seriously."
"I don't have a magical phone line to Kershner" Abigail points out. "I haven't seen anyone government like since I got back. They've stayed out of my life save for the papers I need to include with my income tax and pass off to my accountant. I could call up Agent Parkman and see if he can get a hold of our beloved CIA agent, but even then… I don't know whether she'd even place much priority on this. One love note does not a threat make"
"It's KOZLOW, Abby." Elisabeth eyes her. "Frankly, just his presence here, in my mind, is questionable. At best. I'll drop her a quick line. Since she's my boss now and crap. You said Teo's back?" That makes her … marginally happier. She wishes Leonard were here. With a sigh, she says, "Shit. Everything always at once, right?" She smiles a bit. "I think we're sort of cursed or something."
'Yeah, I know, it's Skoll. Doens't mean that they might turn their head and look the other way Liz. The one person I was stupid enough to NOT think was Vanguard in Russia. I offered to help him with the ferryman, of all people" Abigail purses her lips. "I'll still go through Matt, and you can try through your ways. Just tell her i'm having a wolf problem and it's not Ethan. I'll give you a copy of the security tape just in case she actually listens" Such faith she has in Kershner.
In truth, Liz doesn't have any either. She nods, though. "Somehow, I have a feeling it's another thing we're going to have to deal with ourselves. Just…. be careful, okay? Stick close to Teo, and have the girls… " She bites her tongue. "I'm sorry. I'm issuing orders again." She sighs. "Look….. I just wanted to come and tell you how very sorry I am about what happened to Tanya. And to tell you about Richard." She squeezes Abby's hand one more time. "I don't like this. And I like even less that I'm all the way down in DC most of the time right now." She frowns. THe worry lines at this rate are probably permanent.
"Hey, if I have to, I can poof, not like I don't know a billion people in the city and an underground evo railroad" Abigail points out. "Or you know, the fleeting love interest of a PR rep for Linderman of whom i'm under their protection" She points out to the other woman even as she's pushing the plate of goodies in front of her just a little more. "I'll figure something out. I wish Alec hadn't disappeared, or i'd have him do something about the alley. Probably agree to the pit of snakes and the moving ball of stone"
Finally helping herself to some of the tea cakes, Elisabeth gives a faint smile. "I wish he hadn't too… I'd have stuck him on Danko in a heartbeat." Cuz Alec is good for all kinds of nefarious deeds. She nibbles and asks, "What'd you think of your new wallpaper?" There's a hint of a giggle in her tone.
There's a glance to the walls in her kitchen and then to the livingroom through the doorway with a wrinkling of her brows. "That's not new Liz"
"Abby… haven't you even looked at the bar?" Elisabeth demands through a laugh. "Good Lord, woman."
"I've been busy…" Abigail looks at little affronted at that. "I've had classes, and then Tanya, and the bar's been closed for two days" But it's enough to make her rise from the table and head out of the kitchen towards her front door. The one that leads down towards the back room of the bar.
Elisabeth gets out of her chair with a swallow of tea and taking a cake with her. She swings the backpack over her shoulder on the way out the door behind Abby, since she'll probably take her leave after this anyway, news delivered. But seeing this reaction is worth it.
She's giggling softly the whole way down the stairs.
One step at a time she goes, occasionally glancing back at Liz and the giggling. been a while since she's seen the woman with that kind of look on her face. "What in the Lords green earth could possibly be funny about wallpaper Liz. It's wallpaper. It's either pretty or it's ugly or it'll be smoke stained in a months time" She points out since her bar is one of the ones that opted to still let folks smoke in it. Though a great many people still go outside. Force of habit this day in age.
Out from the back room the two of them come, abigail coming to a stand behind the bar, Brenda and one of the others serving customers. From afar it looks really, just like fancy scrolling wallpaper with flowers and she looks over at Liz with one raised dark blonde brow.
Elisabeth goes to stand next to Brenda, still snickering with laughter. "Go on," she admonishes. "Take a good look."
"Oh for.." Abigail rolls her eyes, skirting around the bar. THe few customers - regulars - are also watching because they want to see the reaction of the owner. Towards the nearest patch of wall she goes, leaning against a table, palms flat. "Really Liz I don't see wha-" She cuts off though at realizing that the flowers, are actually people. "Acrobats"
Wait a minute.
"Liz! Elisabeth Harrison! Is that.. there are people fornicating on my walls!"
For the first time since Antarctica, Elisabeth dies laughing. She shoves Brenda in the shoulder. "I told you!" she sputters! And continues to laugh so hard, tears spring to her eyes. "Yes, Abby. There are!"
"There are people fornicating on my walls. They're…" She leans closer, looking here, there, face fallen in shock. "How.. I mean.. where do you even buy this wallpaper…" Abigail's head whips around, looking at Brenda with the expectation of an answer. "Who did this? Who decided to do this.. oh lord" She's looking at the walls again, moving around the periphery reaching out to touch the walls but at the last minute pull her hand back like she can't even bring herself to touch it. "I didn't even know one can do that" to one pose on the wall. "My parents are gonna kill me."
Leaning her elbows on the bar, Liz says, "They'll never notice." Between gasps to catch her breath, the blonde is still laughing. It is the single best laugh she's had in ….. months, really. Just… months.
"You don't know my momma. Well my Momma won't cause she won't ever step a foot in here but my dah" She steps away from the walls, coming up to the bar and fixing a look at Brenda who looks just pleased with herself as she blows out a stream of smoke from her cigarette. "Hey, it was Izzy's dying wish" Total blatant lie. "She'd seen this paper before she bit the dust, just didn't know where to get it. So the girls and I figured that we might do you a good one by giving the place a bit of a re-vamp while you were away getting yer ankle broke and all. What, don't liek it? Cause everyone else seems to like it" Brenda nudges liz's ribs with her elbow. "Betcha blondie here wants some for her bedroom. I know I did my bathroom in the leftover stuff"
Shaking her head, still with the giggles, Liz says, "Nah, no thanks. I don't do wallpaper, ladies." She wrinkles her nose at Abby and says, "Have fun, girls. I got stuff to get done before I catch my plane." She comes around the end of the bar and hugs Abby once more. "Call me if you need me, Abs." And she whispers impishly, "That reaction was great."
"Go" It's hard to tell whether she's upset or amused. Likely it might take a bit for her to get used to it. Not something she'd have chosen herself to go with the bar in a long time. She just purses her lips and stares at the paper. For all that she herself has done what's on the wall, she's still a prude and the flaunting of it, on the walls… "See you when you're back in town. Brenda" There's a gesture to the back room made to the red head.
"we need to discuss the wallpaper"