Participants:
Scene Title | Welcome To The Club |
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Synopsis | Cardinal's playing babysitter of Abigail after Liz leaves and they talk, then head out to the movies. |
Date | April 7, 2009 |
Village Renaissance Building - Abby & Alexander's Apartment
An average middle class apartment, it's populated with decidedly not middle class furniture. A solitary red suede couch occupies the immediate living room, with a battered coffee table and side tables as it's companion. A decent sized TV sits on a cupboard with a stereo, DVD player. The kitchen sports a relic from the 70's, with matching chairs that still seem to be in decent condition. The two bedrooms off the hall are distinguishable from the other, one bearing a gold cross nailed above the door, the other not.
In the corner of the living room is an ornate cage on a bird stand, a blue budgie within it's depths. In another corner is a massive cat tree house, and often occupied by a black cat with a red suede collar. It looks barely lived in, like the owners are not yet investing their effort quite yet to move in.
Phoenix is underway with their operation, unbeknowst to the redheaded healer. She knows something might be up because Liz hung around the bar the whole evening up until a few hours before curfew and walked her home. Cardinal had been there as well and so the bar time hadn't been as slightly stressful as it usually is. Between the two, people were discouraged from lingering too much, and from shooting looks at the redhead ass that they might otherwise shoot.
Back at the apartment, things were different. Cardinal had taken off leaving Abigail with just Liz. Over coffee and swamp sludge the blonde had come clean about Muldoon and his skipping of town. That they hadn't told her sooner but they were afraid it might set her back and cause too much stress on the healer. The mood from that point onward had pretty much been killed and after watching some TV Elisabeth had gone off, leaving Abigail alone.
Or so she thought. Cardinal had been sticking around. Abigail's still in jeans and tank top, cleaning up dishes from the coffee cake, drying the plates, putting them away. The place is too quiet, far too quiet and thank you for a radio which is turned on, the dial set to the "WNAR Christian Broadcasting 100.3" before it launches into some pop rock Jesus love fest. Just what the former blonde enjoys. She's settling in for a long night, that's for sure.
She probably hasn't noticed that her shadow has a bird perched upon its shoulder. One doesn't normally look at one's shadow, after all! As one song ends and another begins, suddenly there's a hollow groan that stirs from the shadows, "Mother of — are there really this many Christian Rock Bands? Seriously? Abigail, I'm going to go completely insane in about three more sets."
Holy shit. A plate goes flying, the woman jumping probably a good five feet up in the air - okay, exaggeration. Maybe three. The plate lands with a crash as abby whips around, looking around the apartment, looking for the owner. Belatedly, she notes, that it's Richard Cardinal and only then looks to her shadow on the counter and the bird. "Lord in Heaven, you don't do that Richard! Certainly not to me!" Blue eyes look down at the shattered plate with a sigh. "What station do you prefer then. I don't tend to keep it on when I have company" This spoken as she's kneeling down to take care of the piece son the linoleum.
"Hey, now," Cardinal gently chides, "Don't take the Lord's name in vain." Oh, he must've been waiting to use that one for weeks now. A hint of contrition as he offers, "Sorry about the plate. I was just going to hang out quietly'n all, but, seriously, it's driving me nuts."
"Well then either become corporeal and change it yourself or tell me what you'd rather listen to" Abby fires back with a shake of her head towards teh bird as if it's completely normal to talk to your shadow. "How long have you been on my shoulder?" Which translates into how much have you heard and seen. The shards are picked up carefully, tossed into a brown bag which is put into the garbage can and the broom fetched. 'Don't worry about the plate. Proves me right for not getting Corel like my momma always said I should buy"
"Most've the night," admits Richard, "Liz knew I was here. I just figured I'd let you two talk, and all." A faint snort echoes in the shadows, "Still. Sorry."
"Well then, I need to blame liz for not telling me" Abby answers back, everything swept, into a dustpan then trash. Wet cloth to pick up anything that's missed and she stands there before the sink again. A few last dishes to finish doing. "How have you been doing? Besides sitting around like a bird on my shoulder and spying on me" One hand dips back into the soap to grab a cup and wash, rinse.
There's a few moments of silence, and then Richard admits, "…busy. It keeps me occupied, at least." A pause, and he clears his throat in a hollow echo, "To be fair, I'm not here to -spy- on you. Just in case somethin' goes wrong, tonight."
"I think you'd have qualms about spying on me Richard" She has high standards about him it seems. "Want anything to drink or are you going to stay like that the whole night?" The plug is pulled in the sink, letting the water drain, spraying it down to rinse out the suds and dry the sink. "I don't think anyone's going to touch me. If they suspected they'd be here by now, and banging on my door" Over to the radio she goes, changing the stations slowly, stopping at each station and waiting for some signal that it's a preferred station.
"It's just for tonight. They're doin' their whole… hero… deal right now," replies Cardinal with just a hint of irritation threaded through his voice, "So, I don't have any idea what sort've fallout there'll be. That's good, right there. 80s. That's where it's at."
"Well my nights are very un-entertaining Richard, so be prepared to sit on my wall" Abigail points out. "Or I can go out and we can see a movie. Just so long as I have my phone, if they're really doing that. If there's something you want to see that I won't balk at seeing. Really, I'm a very boring woman" She is. Work, sleep, errands, work, sleep, errands, healing in between everything normally except for lately" She leans against the counter, elbows on the top, hands clasped together as she goes up on her toes and seesaws her hips back and forth in time to some Journey.
"Trust me," Cardinal snorts just a bit, "You don't have anything on Liz's boyfriend. Now /he's/ boring to follow around all day." The shadow's wings spread just a bit on the wall, rustling silently before folding once more. After a moment, he admits, "I'm used to it, really. Doesn't bother me, just watching someone go through life."
"She's got you following that guy" Figures. "You didn't answer whether you'd want to go see a movie. I mean, you are watching over me. least I could do is be an entertaining guest. Could go out and rent something or see what's on the pay per view. Make up for the screaming your going to get later when I fall asleep"
There's silence for a few moments, and then he asks gently, "Still that bad?"
"you saw me take my pills" Is her reply. "I don't want to talk about it. What movie?"
"How about Aliens vs Monsters?" A light suggestion, "Although not the three-dee version. I can't wear the glasses like this."
"I think I'd like that. Can you eat popcorn like that?" Aliens vs monsters. She'd seen the ad's. It looked interesting. "You okay going on a scooter or is a cab better?" Away from the counter she pushes herself so she can track across the kitchen and into the living room. Make sure she's presentable and a warm sweater beneath her scooter jacket. "Upside, it'll only cost me one ticket" she points out.
"I'll just be riding your shadow, so, either way. I'll even get solid for the movie, if you're offerin' popcorn," Richard allows easily, seeming pleased at the whole idea, "Butter and salt, though."
"Richard Cardinal. It's blasphemous to have popcorn without any salt or butter on it. Really!" She must be some degree better because it's a shake of her head and a soft laugh that he even would think she doesn't take butter or salt on her popcorn. "Two tickets it is then" She grabs her helmet off the peg on the wall. "Poor Liz doesn't know what she's going to miss"
"Hey, I had to make sure you weren't one of those… Theater Heretics that insist leaving off the butter and salt helps them lose weight," Richard replies with an amused twist of his voice, "It's a sin against the Movie Gods."
"I may not be given to excesses but I always have salt and butter on popcorn" It's quietly spoken now as she heads out the door, making sure that her shadow comes with her, as if stepping on it might hurt it, keeping her voice quiet so she doesn't alarm people as she passes, if any are in the hallways. SHe falls silent, the redhead, until they're in the parking area, and the scooter is spotted. "Here's to hoping that what they're doing while we're watching a movie works Richard. Lord I hope so. No matter how wrong it is"
"Wrong isn't black and white, Abigail," the shadow tells her, quietly, as they cross to the scooter, "It's all grey. In the long run, all you can do is hope that you've picked the right shade of it."
"It's still breaking the law Richard. In the end, it's not right. But in the start, how they landed in there wasn't right either and two wrongs don't make a right" The helmet is slid on, face shield coming down. "But then, I stand in the middle and heal all sides so who am I to judge"
"It's not legal," Richard notes, firmly, "Doesn't mean it's not right."
"we're allowed different opinions" Abby points out, engine starting and lifting her feet as the scooter peels away towards the rest of the greenwhich in search of a movie theater. "Doesn't mean I don't respect you any the less Richard. I'd be a bad person if I did"
"After all /I've/ done," replies Cardinal in wry tones as the scooter starts, "I still think you're crazy for respecting me at all."
"Welcome to the club Richard" Abby murmurs. "The Abigail's Nuts Club. You are not the inaugural member"
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