Participants:
| Scene Title | Visit From A New Friend |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | After weeks of watching Eve in casually, Corbin decides to approach her and begin a dialogue. |
| Date | September 25, 2018 |
The room is large, a mid sized stage with tattered curtains hanging around it and two spotlights that face it. There were a number of mismatched theatre seats arranged in a half circle facing the stage, a long dark purple rug running through the middle of them. A chandelier that is sometimes on and only lights up halfway hangs in the center of the room. Even when music is not being performed people congregate around the stage, drinking or smoking. A 420 Friendly sign hangs near a mirror hung up behind the bar.
The bar area has a few mismatched chairs and boxes for chairs. A lone armchair is placed near the bar, the owner usually occupies it when she is in. The bar is a bunch of wood and steel welded together and repurposed as a bar, there is a black glass that is fitted around the middle of often smear from people’s knees and boot heels. A really old television set with a VHS player sits behind the bar propped up on a stand. The bar is as well stocked as you can get nowadays, there’s even an exotic alcohol or two rumored to be under the bar. A modest grill stands in the corner right next to the bar, nothing fancy just greasy food.
In the corner of the room near the stage and it’s green room door is another door that is usually locked.
Cat’s Cradle invites a wide range of people, drifters, music lovers, oddballs, preppy college kids (such a thing still exists yes), the good, the gray.. maybe even some bad. This place was a neutral ground, all were welcome. If you were respectful and Eve loved a good reason to relive her old glory days of PARIAH and bar brawling with taught by her father, but no today the bar was in full swing. So much so that Eve herself is working behind the bar.
I’m always reaching out to you but you act so damn bulletproof
A woman plays an electric guitar and roars out a angsty tune about her lover leaving her for another. Platinum dyed white blonde locks swing as the skinny woman jams on her guitar, the crowd whopping along with her voice filled with passion. Eve among them, swaying to the music as she pours another pair of shots for a couple to her left, her staff lays against the wall but she is trying her best to not use it. Dressed in a loose flowing deep red shirt and flowy skirt of the same color, she whirls around the bar, singing along when she catches the lyrics to the song.
Seems to me you're trying to ruin a good thing good thing
You twist and you manipulate, a good thing good thing
A group of people, perhaps the woman’s friends are the loudest in the room, singing every word as the blonde’s performance climbs higher and higher in emotion, the weight of it sliding over the room intermingling with the smoke of cigarettes and some marijuana, people take the 420 friendly sign absolutely seriously.
I guess you showed me so I’ll have to show you, dedidadoodoodoooo
Ooh, I want you, but I can't have you
=You can't seem to get your head out of the ground
Eve’s wild mane of dark hair flies in the wind as she shrieks in delight at how the night is going, it's been a rough few weeks… err months and she had been away from Cat’s more than she had liked but with Eimi gone to wherever she was it wasn't practical to always have someone stay with her at home. Benchmark was where she spent a lot of time, Gillian's the second most but tonight she felt the need to show her face. People had been asking about the Murderimp and though her fame sometimes led her to trouble, it also kept her pockets filled with MONIES because who doesn't want to come to a wild bar with a wild woman to potentially get into some wild trouble. Eve was the face for this and that was the face she had on tonight, the troubles of recent times there in the back of her mind but this was distraction. She loved it.
There’s one person in the bar that doesn’t seem quite as easy to place why he might have shown up. It’s probably not for the music, as he’s not really giving it more than a cursory glance, and while he’s ordered the local brewed beer on tap, Corbin isn’t drinking it quickly enough to seem like he’s here for the alcohol. And he hasn’t been flirting with anyone, either, male or female. And has he been talking to himself every so often?
Maybe he’s not so out of place, after all.
He’s a face she’s seen before, too, the few times that she’s been in the bar, he seems to have stopped in. A few words exchanged, friendly laughs at jokes. He’d never brought up the horse metaphor, even if he sometimes wore a t-shirt that made animals puns. Sometimes.
Today he’s in a normal button up, sitting at the bar as the music is performed, as people talk amongst themselves and laugh. He’s older than the college age patrons, a little older even than the owner. It might have been hard to tell, except for the graying in his hair. “Glad to see you’re keeping busy,” he offers when the owner as she moves closer, once again trying to initiate a conversation, though this time he seems more… focused.
“The bill faries come running and Gilly told me it’s best to be prompt.” So did her father Eric, though he struggled with the rent of Mas Mechanics at times. Sliding over to stand in front of the man she leans against the bar and studies his face, eyes flicking to his. “Saving the world does not pay the bills Blue Eyes,” except in her case it did. The bar full mostly because of her reputation. Eve eyes the bottle of tequila sitting in the well and before another thought can stop her she pulls the bottle up and pours two generous shots, sliding one over to the man as she raises hers to her lips, “To staying out of sight of the fairies.” Knocking the liquor back she growls to the ceiling and slams the glass on the surface of the bar with a snort following after.
“How are you tonight? Chasing any potential companions, we have a wide variety here at Cat’s Cradle.” Taking on a tone of a salesperson though there were no persons to sell, just fun. “Sassy has been looking for a new boyfriend.”
“I’m not desperate bitch don’t just be screaming that to the world!” Comes Sassy’s roar from the front door of the bar though Corbin does receive a look up and down from the flamboyant bartender.
“One would think saving the world would pay quite a lot, but alas,” Corbin responds with a grin as he looks across to bar, taking the generous shot and downing it without much concern because technically he’s off duty. And he’s sure even one drink wouldn’t hurt too much. As long as it didn’t progress much further than that. “I’m taken, sadly,” he offers the ‘Sassy’ bartender a apologetic smile for having been put on the spotlight. Though he’s sure at least one or two single folks will see the chance at free drinks now that something’s been said.
Not him, though. As he said, he’s taken. About as taken as one could be without an actual wedding ring. Or physical companion for that matter, but still— as far as he was concerned, taken.
The shot glass is turned over, his way of saying not to refill it, as he glances around the bar. “I was actually hoping to find you. I write articles, sometimes. Wrote them during the war. Leaflets distributed to let people know what was going on, know they were fighting for the right side, that sort of thing. I was hoping to get an interview with you.”
“Taken! Then I can't use my real super power on you.” Sucking her teeth and wagging her finger in Corbin’s direction, the invitation to an interview has the pale woman's eyes narrowing, “This isn't for one of those gossip blogs right? War interviews are a good cover. The goat was real, it use to be here Tuesdays and Thursdays.” Her look still a bit suspicious, the last blog post was: Resident Meme Lady Eve Mas TUBAS her way through Elmhurst Hospital. The dark haired woman would have preferred if they had also gotten in there that she was cheering up the poor children in the place!
A good deed misunderstood. Hailey understood, she had to see Doolittle she thinks to herself before Eve is snapping back to the present world and realizes she’s tuned out the surrounding world for a time, “Let's.. go somewhere quieter.” Whether it's a hoax or not she can't hear him that clearly over all this racket.
“Sassy! Be back soon, hold the fort you fancy mofo. Woooo!” Yanking at her metal staff she strides around the bar and gestures to Corbin. “Come on Baby Blue, down we go.” Leading him towards the Oracle Room.
“While I admit I have done a puff piece in the past, I don’t write gossip or hit pieces,” Corbin responds with a sincere grin that seems to ring true from the way his smile touches those aforementioned baby blues. But no, he’s definitely not here to ask about the Tuba incident, or other things that would be reported on— no, not those.
But he doesn’t say another word as he grabs his case, which is more handbag than briefcase, and has followed her down into the Oracle Room. Once the door is closed and he moves down to where he can set the case back down, he looks back at her and says, “I wasn’t entirely truthful upstairs, though, I must admit. I’m not here to hurt you or your reputation. There’s some interested parties who want to make sure you don’t get hurt, that you have some assistance, so I’ve been assigned to do that, but I didn’t want to announce it in front of everyone.”
That’s why the reporter guise. “I’m Corbin Ayers,” he offers his hand, while keeping his other hand well clear of anything that might look threatening. “I work for SESA. Though I was a reporter and really did do propaganda during the war— for our side, of course.” Cause the other side certainly had their share of propaganda.
Eve’s eyes narrow and then widen a fraction before she snorts and leans in while shaking Corbin’s hair, the pull of an eloquent smile on her lips. “Fooled me, didn't ya? Boy Blue.” There's a twinkle in her eyes and she squints closely at him, as if trying to see something that isn't there in the space around him, hm nada. Shaking her head she releases his hand and gestures to the couch or large, lush pillows in the room, “Have a seat,” she would offer a drink but seeing as he has one already the seer settles herself onto a large deep purple pillow with gold tassels at the end. “But of course. Working hand in hand, building a brighter and better future.” The line doesn't feel that rehearsed and there is truth in it a lot. Any qualms with the government what with all of her friends affiliated in some manner have mostly dispelled but being snuck up upon makes her weary, given what she can do and though she doesn't see it all. Spooned is what lies behind those doe brown eyes.
Unassuming in the most perfect way, charming and those baby blues. “Vincent has good taste.”
“So you want to hop onto the wagon wheel spinning towards an immortal and an ancient mystery for the ages? I like you already.” Eve reclines in the pillow, stretching her legs out and choosing that moment to kick her shoes off one at a time sending them to land with a soft thud on the floor of the room. Many paintings finished and blank canvases bear down on the pair. The one of the Three Mothers, one Corbin might even know. Sabra reigns supreme above the fireplace still. “Tell me about yourself.” One pale hand snakes out to nab at a chocolate chip cookie on a plate on the table. Three more remain. Taking a big bite of her first one, listening to the SESA agent.
While he had never mentioned Vincent, Corbin doesn’t exactly deny that statement when it’s made as he sits himself down at the table. His eyes slide over some of the paintings, stilling for a moment on the Three Mothers, because indeed he does recognize one of them. For a moment while she’s looking at him, ##BBEE55she sees a pair of golden eyes almost peeking over his shoulder. But instead of looking like the corona of an eclipsed sun, like she might expect, they appear to be cat’s eyes with a slit of darkness in the middle. It doesn’t stay long, in fact closing as she spots it, fading into the darkness.##
“I used to work for the Company,” he explains after a moment, though he’s pulling out an ID so she doesn’t have to just take his word that he is now a SESA agent. The fact that he is a SESA Agent and admits to having worked for the Company— well— perhaps he was like Veronica. Or Ryans. “Tried to keep the Institute at bay while I was there, but failed. Ended up running when they destroyed our headquarters.” And by headquarters, he means plural. “Managed to stay one step ahead of them.” He kinda faked his own death on record, which helped. He even once had a grave somewhere, but he’s not sure it survived the war.
Actually now that he mentions it, she might remember him from the trials, where he had testified about some of what the Company had done, things like Bob Bishops treatment of his daughter, how they planned the Bomb (though he tried to defend Angela Petrelli, even if it had not made much a difference in the end. She had not stood trial, after all. And other crimes that he had been aware of others doing. His assistance on Roosevelt Island, while still working for the Company when he had helped sick Evolved under the protection of the Ferry escape, as well as giving them the heads up about an incoming raid on the areas their safehouse had been in, and his actions during the war, however non combative they may have been, had helped gain him clemency.
“What's up pussycat?” Is asked softly and mostly to herself as the eyes fade away, curious. Rubbing her forehead at the after effects of her newfound aspect of her ability springing up she squints and reaches over to the ashtray to pull a joint out and lights it. “Headaches, new thing.” The throbbing slow and steady nothing she couldn't sit through, smoke through. Allowing a few moments to go by as the effect is cannabis slowly wash over her head and flows down to the rest of her body, the Company. That gets an eyebrow raise from Eve.
“They really had many people. Ah.. you.. Baby Blue. I was there at your testimony, outside.” Trying to find a way to smoke some grass, alas Gillian discovered her and made her throw it away before she got put in jail. “I lived in that Ark, they made me better once.” Her memories of that time few and the time after her reintegration into society didn't allow the balanced mental state she had adopted through their methods to last for very long. She doesn't miss it. She feels on when she's off. Off when she's on. “You might know my friend Agent Red aka Robyn Quinn. She's a warrior queen.”
The meat of the reason he is here, he was requested. Eve had sought out help in her efforts of stopping Adam Monroe’s plan of genocide, of tipping the scales of balance. There would be “good”, gray and “evil”, as it always had been. As it always would be. Eve felt a need to stabilize the scales, she had spent much time tipping them before. “I was wondering when you'd show up. I requested of Vincent one of his finest. So!” Leaning forward, streams of smoke blowing out from her nostrils, gaze half lidded. “Do you know anything about Adam Monroe since you worked at the Company? And,” a devilish grin paints itself on her face. “Are you ready to go hunting?”
At the last thing the seer says, her question, Corbin doesn’t even attempt to hide his amusement. He half wonders if she somehow knew he had been coming, or if she just made an assumption as she had with assuming Vincent had sent him. While the man’s not mentioned anywhere in the request, he could feel his hand in it himself. Mostly because he didn’t think anyone high up in SESA would have bothered with this kind of thing, nor did he think that anyone lower than the Secretary himself could get this kind of thing through. Her words of making a request had just confirmed it for him.
“I do know Agent Quinn, yes,” he does respond with a nod. He knew most the Agents. They were not a large expansive group, after all. They only had a couple dozen, not even as many as other branches within the country. Even if New York seemed to have a weird way of attracting ‘SLC-E problems’.
“I never personally did much involving Adam Monroe, myself, but I certainly had heard of him.” He had been in the archives. They had redacted a lot involving Adam, he is sure, but he had seen enough to know that, indeed, the man was dangerous. “I would love to help,” he ends up saying, though. “I can give advice, keep you and others from getting into trouble, and I know a thing or two that might be able to protect you, too.” Protect her. And others. Indeed the whole world.
She would be sure to talk to Red about her agent friend after this meeting, the pale woman sits and puffs on her joint her gazing passing over the empty unlit fireplace and a new painting sitting on an easel next to it. New is a relative term because it's actually an old painting of Eve’s her signature in the corner of the canvas. The painting depicts Eve bleeding out on the ground, the Kensei sword in her back, in the shadows a figure with golden eyes looks down on her. “I would gladly have your help and advice.” Eyeing the painting that she didn't remember painting, she had done so many at this point there were too many that had slipped her mind and were lost and found and sold, all manner of things.
“I need you to know one thing though,” it's not so much a warning or even a condition it's just a fact that Corbin might even have deduced himself before coming to initially meet Eve. “That,” pointing at the painting, “Doesn't dissuade me. No matter what, we push forward. The.. fate of the world might depend on it… don't laugh at me.” Oh so aware of herself and her dramatics but there's really no other way to say it.
“I mean if it looks like there's no hope whatsoever I can listen but..” her face swings back to Corbin unkempt hair following after, flying really. “There is a facility being ran as a front for Adam, Refrain. That's our first objective.”
That painting earns a long glance, before Corbin listens to what she has to say. Trying to make sure she doesn’t get herself killed might have been included in the orders, certainly, but they weren’t the only thing at risk here, and he knew that. He wouldn’t assume they were going to save the world, but it certainly could be. After all, how many times had he heard that those involved with the Ferry had, at one point or another, done just that? With a lighthearted grin he looks back at her, “Can’t let possible death dissuade one, I say. Besides, it could be a metaphor.”
Yes, that’s a joke, but lightly meant.
The first objective, though, raises his eyebrow and makes him slightly more serious, “Refrain? Is that like the drug? Or just something coincidentally named?”
Because he knew a thing or two about that drug. Though not as much as someone else might.
Oh so you know about the memes. Eve looks sheepish and her white teeth show, “Perhaps it is” smiling afterward. Now that they are onto business Eve takes a breath and resettles into the cushions, pondering the upcoming op with her friends and now this newcomer. “Yes, Monica and I interrogated a dude. Mister Michael Green. He lied to us, followed him to Refrain facility,” Whipping her phone out and scrolling to the pictures they’ve taken.
“It's guarded. It's our only real lead besides the company Praxis.” Something else Monica, Chess and Luther were actually working on. “Actually there are multiple angles but the Refrain facility is at the hub currently, ran by the Triad.”
“Tell me something Corbin.” Eve ashes the joint and looks over into the man’s baby blue eyes though she wants to look over his shoulder again. “What's with the gold cat eyes following you around?”
Praxis. That makes him chew on his lip a little for a moment in thought. Yes, that name keeps popping up in a bunch of troubling contexts. And Corbin definitely wants to learn a little more about it, and what connection it might have to Adam. He’s about to ask on that, when she jumps the topic to something that makes him blink outright. “A— a cat? With yellow eyes?” He doesn’t say gold, cause really he doesn’t think of that cat as having golden eyes most the time.
“Did you dream about me?” he asks with a slight cant to his head, as if not really understanding where she might have seen something. Those pale blue eyes are drifting around, as if he’s trying to catch sight of the edge of his vision, before he shakes his head. “It’s nothing, really. I do have a cat, but Gabriel’s old and lazy and isn’t all black.” Only partially black.
Even as he says that, it’s a little too dismissive. Because he knows exactly who she’s asking about. “Back to Praxis, though. How do you know that Adam is involved in Praxis?”
“Gabriel.” There's a weak smile at the name. “I have a friend named Gabriel,” but she frowns, “Maybe not anymore.” They needed to talk. Another problem for another day but the fractured bond between herself and the wolf is something that doesn't sit well with her, she needed to make things right. Meddling was Eve’s forte, her spirit.
“Ah yes I dreamed it, just flickered to my mind as I saw you.” Just as dismissive about the new aspect of her ability as he is about the ghost in his head, people like their secrets and Corbin is right back to the matter at hand currently, “Kam Nisatta.” The name is said softly and the pale woman leans forward to stare into Corbin’s eyes, “I need you to keep that name on the DL,” he knows why, that name with the connections. What that name is control of. “She's connected in an even larger way than I suspected. Our last meeting…” Eve looks regretful, “Didn't bear much fruit. Morsels for fear of The Spread. Though it has come and gone. Would you-”
There's a lightbulb of an idea and Eve snaps her fingers suddenly, “Would you care to come with me to speak to her?” A bonding exercise, “Your first assignment on the team.” A sly grin.
Kam Nisatta. That’s a name that Corbin recognizes. He hesitates for a moment and then nods. “What do you need to talk to her about?” This topic is difficult and he wants to approach it carefully. What she said does not explain how Adam Monroe has connections to Praxis, but he assumes that will become clear at some point.
And how was Kam Nisatta connected to Adam Monroe? That’s a question he’s now curious about.
“I’m not sure that is the best idea, going with you. I have… dealings… with … them and that might disrupt them.” And unlike some people he’s not sure he could pull off a convincing disguise and get inside the building. He’s starting to think this entire thing might disrupt his investigation into the sabotage, in fact.
“There is an.. entity. A thing not from here, not from anywhere, maybe from everywhere. She has a strong connection to it and through that, Adam.” It's a simple way to explain the complicated topic of Kam Nisatta. “I have.. she knows somehow of Adam’s connection to Praxis. She's our best lead.”
The talk of dealings with Yama make Eve tilt her head before she nods, of course he has other investigations going on. “Don't worry about that then, I'll go ahead.” There's a hand placed on Corbin’s arm, “You're apart of the team now and we look out for our own, no messing up work.” No losing his livelihood though Eve couldn't promise she would always be able to keep that safe, she would try.
“Do you think I could meet with your Director?” The question is sudden.
An entity. That earned a frown as Corbin glanced off into the air for a moment, as if looking at something that had been in the corner of his eyes. Whatever he sees, or doesn’t see, doesn’t seem to give him any answer that he wants. Which could perhaps be nothing at all. “I’d go with you, but until my other business is finished it is not a great idea.” It could jeopardize that investigation, and it also might have to do with Praxis, in the end. “If you want to update me on what she does say, if she says anything, that would be good.”
Maybe he should see if someone else could accompany her. But he doesn’t have much time to think about that.
That question surprised him, though. “Executive Director Kenner?” Cause that’s the director of the Safe Zone branch of SESA, though they have other directors too, but he jumped to that one. He’s not sure how he might be related to this. “I could potentially put in a good word for you, I suppose, and go with you if you do meet him… But he’s a very busy man.” Almost as busy as Kam probably is.
“I will surely update you Baby Blue! You're in the operation,” the liaison to the government, she and the others were the team the government wouldn't speak of that they couldn't say they endorsed in case things went south. Eve didn't want Corbin to lose his job.
Nodding her head, Eve’s gears are turning. “Maybe not.” It looked bad when you went to Dad and when he said no you go to Mom. “But one day I'd love to meet him. He's a handsome man, how do the ladies stay away?” Flattery gets you everywhere supposedly but the guy she's flattering isn't even in the room. “I do.. really appreciate you. Coming to help.” She means in and while the Eve of old would have been afraid slightly of being in the room with a government agent, Eve feels pride that the work she had done for years had paid off.
It was quite the change, for the both of them. What little he had done to help before and during the war had rarely involved anything this hands on. Though Corbin had done what he could to resist the Institute take over. After a moment, he presses a card on the table. His business card. It has his cellphone number and office number.
“I know phones aren’t the most reliable means of communication, but send a text if nothing else, with a location and I’ll meet you there. If you need to meet me— my office is at Fort Jay. Have the guards radio ahead and I’ll give you permission to meet me.”
It’s the most he can give. “And I’ll be keeping an eye on you if I can, too.” Though less subtly than he had been when he just sat at the bar and drank. Or more subtly. Cause he has someone he can ask a favor from.
“I love this card!” Eve takes it with excitement and slips it into her bra, “Oh Baby Blue,” snickering as she pats herself down and then standing. “This has been wonderful, Welcome to the folks who go Boom.” As she stands the seer begins to walk Corbin to the door, a lot on her mind. The next moves they need to make. As a unit. Rubbing her forehead, the seer thinks about that all and opens the door.
“Heheh, well we might be watching each other. I'm a slippery goldfish.” Batting her eyelashes with a cackle, Eve shows him out.
There was much to do. Much to do indeed.
But they got this.