Participants:
| Scene Title | Welcome to the Crazy Farm |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Zachery wakes up to find two unexpected visitors eating sandwiches in his living room. |
| Date | August 16, 2010 |
Some mornings, a young couple might choose to go out and have breakfast, people watch a bit, and on their final stop, recruit someone into a cult. Warren didn't allow Elle to just zap the lock, he instead used some sort of strange mechanical key he is, unlocking the door normally. They're been sitting on Zachery's couch, watching his television, and eating sandwiches from his kitchen as they wait for him. Breakfast kind of sucked earlier.
When Zachery walks out, Warren immediately raises his black leather-gloved hand, offering him an idle wave. "We're here to save you from your aimless life." he casually says before taking another bite of his sandwich. "And teach you to buy better lunch meat."
The little blonde couldn't help but pout a little when Warren wouldn't let her zap the lock, though she immediately did the whole 'ooh' and 'aaaah' thing. She has made herself quite at home half reclining on Zachary's black leather couch, munching a bag of chips; her sandwich crust is sitting on a plate on the arm rest. As he enters, Elle offers a charming smile, remaining where she is for a moment, before slowly sitting up. "Good morning, sunshine! There's some coffee in the kitchen!"
The little blonde giggles softly, running a hand through her hair. "You really should get some better coffee. Folgers is so disgusting and bland. Don't know how anyone can drink that crap."
Lunch meat. Coffee. No, that does not seem of any great importance at the moment, to the man now standing in his living room, watching strangers eat his food. He's only barely dressed, standing in boxer shorts and a shirt, a cricket bat held loosely and threatlessly in his left hand. Zachery doesn't look like the type who'd think to use it in time, anyway.
"Ah…" He starts, voice cracking. His second attempt at speaking - after clearing his throat - is still almost no more confident. "E-excuse me." He just stands, shoulders slumped down and eyes meeting those of the strangers' with little more than baffled confusion showing on his face. "… What."
"I've been watching you for a while. You're very talented, but you're completely wasted. Living this pointless life, in this dump, with no where to go. What you need is to be more like me. Pursuing your dreams, with a woman like this," Warren thumbs over at Elle. "Power, fame, knowledge, whatever it is that you want, it's my job to help you get it. With me, you'll have complete freedom, you'd just have to do a few favors from time to time."
He raises his left gloved hand, then removes the leather glove to reveal bronze mechanical fingers, opening and closing his fist as thousands of little gears inbetween the cracks can be seen working together. "You'll just have to help me build a new one of these, then we'll focus on your goals."
Elle Bishop slowly sits up, scratching at the bandage over her left shoulder, and the strap of the sling that her left arm is kept in. She watches Zachery for a long moment, rubbing at her chin with her right hand. "You really should listen to him." She murmurs in a musical tone, raising to her feet and leaning briefly against Warren.
Blue eyes trail over the boxer-clad man, holding an amused gleam. "I love the boxers. Yellow with hula dancers. So cute. Where did you get those? I want a pair of boxers like those, Warren. They look comfortable. And cute."
Most of Warren's words appear to be lost on Zachery, who… appears to be perfectly happy just standing there. If still a bit bewildered. He's not even really sure he's awake yet, and there's a strange calmth about him up until the leather glove is removed. Then, almost immediately, his expression changes to one of sheer intrigue.
Okay, so maybe it IS reality. At least this time the people randomly showing up in his apartment did not cover his towels in the blood of their victims. As far as Zachery is concerned, promises of power, fame and knowledge are a vast improvement. Still, he's… speechless. At least until Elle rambles on, that is. "Whh… I…" Still no proper sentences. He peers down at his legs for a moment, quirking a brow in question as if he's not really sure how those boxers ended up there either. When he finally looks up to address the both of his visitors with a more coherent question, his look is one of pure, clueless exasperation. It's almost sad-looking. "Who the bloody hell are you people, and how is it you keep finding me?"
"I've had you followed for the good part of a year, I have lots of people followed, I like to make sure people are ripe and worthy before I approach them." Warren stands up finally, straightening his suit jacket. "My name's Warren Ray, leader of the Locos. And this is the most adorable woman in the entire world, Elle Bishop, leader of my Crazy Eight's division. If you work for us, we can take you places. Nothing illegal, of course." Relatively speaking.
The little electrokinetic offers one of those charming smiles of hers to Zachery, waving her good hand. "Hi Zachery! It's nice to meet you. Here! I'll go make you some coffee while you and Warren talk. Next time I see you, I'll be sure to bring some good coffee." Elle runs a hand down Warren's left arm as she moves into the kitchen, humming a little tune as she goes. "How do you like your coffee, Zachery? Cream and sugar or just black?" She pulls a coffee mug out of the cabinet once she's in the kitchen.
"… As much caffeine as you can muster." Zachery mumbles absently, while his brain does its best to process the information it's been offered. He can't help his curiosity, however, and his eyes wander almost choicelessly down to Warren's hand again. "Warren Ray." A mental note. Something to remember. Then, something to ponder. "Worthy?"
Belatedly and almost as if he can't quite help it, the cricket bat is unceremoniously dropped, and a hand is halfheartedly offered to the other man. Simultaneously, the closet-evolved's brow furrows, and an attempt is made to 'read' Warren's physical status. Only a quick reach, for all accounts and purposes, but it seems likely this would suffice, considering the circumstances.
Warren, quite obviously, is missing his left arm below the elbow. But less obvious are all the healed fractures all over his body, and the tumor along with all the other damage to his brain. "Worthy. Not completely hopeless. Meaning you're worthy of having a second chance at making your life better, instead of being culled from the species for being a useless sack of meat."
Not completely hopeless, eh. Zachery's more and more intrigued with these people. And then, despite feeling completely out of place in his own home, left out out of plans concerning himself, and not to mention a little bit underdressed for this little meeting- he finally just cracks a grin. And then, after reaching to drag a hand across his forehead and through his hair to the back of his head, he laughs. He just laughs. No mockery, no snideness, just… plain amusement. Incredulous amusement.
"That's the spirit!" Warren pulls his glove back on, then reaches out to pat Zachery on the shoulder a few times. "If you're in, I'll come back later and give you the welcome package, then I can take you to where the magic happens. You'll be a probationary member at first, but you'll be a full member in no time."
Elle makes her way out of the kitchen, smiling cheerfully to the man as she offers him the largest coffee cup she could find, filled with black coffee. "Here you go!" Once the coffee cup is handed off, Elle reclaims her spot next to Warren, grinning at the closet evolved. "I think you'll like it. I've never seen so many people who were happy." She grins widely.
"Why not!" Zachery exclaims more than asks, and though the shoulder pats are ever-so-subtly tiwtched at, the coffee is gladly accepted. "The semblance of a chance is nice and all, but I've learned not to argue, you see." His grin - and interspersed chuckles - by now border on the slightly insane. Elle's smile and cheerfulness might easily be making it worse. "Happy? Oh, I don't care so much about happy. I care about— wait. Can I bring my books?" Priorities, priorities.
"Bring anything you want, I have two places. My base and my factory. I'm still collecting workers for the factory, it's new. You're the first who'll be doing anything other than heavy lifting, I'm working out a deal to get more." Warren moves his left arm over to slip it around Elle's shoulders, grinning widely. "Any questions before we take our leave?"
The little blonde tilts her head toward Zachery, that smile still firmly in place. Wow, he's perfect for Los Locos. It's rather bad when the little blonde feels like the sanest person in the room. She smiles up to Warren, wrapping her good arm around his waist, looking very much the trophy wife with a healing bullet wound in her left shoulder. "I look forward to seeing you around more often, Zachery."
"The first. Because I'm special." Zachery ponders aloud, voice laced with sarcasm. No less amused with the situation, though. "You know what? No. No questions. I'm done with questions. I'm good." He sips his coffee, one more chuckle escaping him as he stares at his visitors in disbelief. "Yes. This is excellent. Much better." Better than what, is not explained.
"The second, because you're only a probationary member for the time being." Warren corrects as penises parry in a duel of testosterone, then turns and starts heading for the door, arm still around Elle's shoulders. "You'll be contacted, your first test is coming up soon."
Elle offers another winning smile to Zachery, walking along with Warren as he heads toward the door. She's almost disappointed. She was hoping for some violence today. Oh well, she'll toy with Zachery once he's a little more established.
Test? Ooh, how fancy. Zachery merely stands there, still not quite sure whether this is reality. All the same, he's quite keen to accept it as such. This sounds like fun. Consequences be damned. He's been gathering dust for far too long.
Even when his visitors have left, he doesn't move from his spot, sipping his coffee while staring toward the door with an absent-minded grin. "Yes. Definitely excellent."