2020-10-09: Conversation, Delivery and a Meal at Murder of Crows
| Conversation, Delivery and a Meal at Murder of Crows | |
|---|---|
| Second meeting with an ID specialist, interesting | |
| IC Date | October 9th, 2020 |
| IC Time | around 1am |
| Players | Ed and Vic Rasmussen |
| Location | The Murder of Crows |
Ed is seated at the small table, a bag at her side. In front of her there is a half-eaten order of french fries and what looks like a glass of soda. There is also a jar of some sort of terrifying hot sauce as well, that the be-goggled woman is using in place of ketchup.
Having gotten a text message from her forger contact shortly after sunset on the eighth of October Vic is now, around 1am in the morning on Friday the ninth, stepping into Murder of Crows for the first time. She's wearing a subtle geek humor t-shirt with an olive drab shirt on over it like a jacket and her ever present bag is suspended from her shoulder at the small of her back.
Vic looks around and sees Ed but first goes to the bar and orders a meal and a drink. After she's handed a tall glass with a red-tinted, translucent and sparkly beverage garnished with a pair of cherries that are impaled on an open toothpick umbrella - the parasol of which is white with little corvids in flight depicted on it - she heads over to the small table that Ed is sitting at. She takes the seat opposite Ed after taking her bag off and, as she sits, she puts it under the table at her feet.
[Emitted for those with extremely good senses:] Vic's drink smells of ginger ale and grenadine. It takes little intuition to determine this is a Shirley Temple.
Ed smiles at Vic as she takes a seat, reaching into her bag and pulling out a small brown envelope. "Here you go. Everything isn't /entirely/ in place yet, but I have a friend of mine going over the finer details and making certain that there aren't any obvious holes. But, unless you're planning to get pulled over by the cops in the next few weeks, you should be fine." Inside the envelope there is a birth certificate for Vermont in 1998, a drivers license, and a generic state issued ID card.
Vic pulls the documents out and looks them over. "So, I'm a year older than my actual age, this works fine," she says and then asks, "Anything I need to know about the real person or would you prefer I don't ask?"
"Real person isn't around anymore," Ed says, picking up a french fry and dipping it in that hot sauce. The stuff is potent enough that Vic can smell it from where she is seated. "Car accident. No living extended family, so it makes it fairly safe to use. I'd just avoid going anywhere near Vermont with it."
Vic's meal, a New York strip with a baked potato and a side of roasted Brussels sprouts, is brought to the table after Ed speaks. Having seen the waitress approaching Vic doesn't reply immediately. She does thank the waitress and, as the woman walks away, she uses her fork to open up the potato and then adds butter, salt and pepper and mashes it up inside the skin before adding a small dollop of sour cream. Before beginning to eat she says, "I have absolutely no reason to be going to Vermont any time in the near future," she pauses as if waiting to hear something and then continues, "That I'm aware of at least. So yeah, that's good." She then cuts a piece of the steak and begins eating it first while the butter and sour cream melt into the potato mash.
Ed eats a couple more french fries dipped in hot sauce, then takes a sip from her soda. "Then you should be fine with what I've given you." A beat. "Wouldn't happen to know someone by the name of Evie, would you? She was asking if I knew a Vic earlier and was remembering you as Victoria. But, I was going over my notes before coming here and saw that you'd introduced yourself as Vic."
Vic nods as she washes down a bite of potato with her drink. "I do know an Evie," she replies. "I've been considering taking her under my wing actually," she adds before asking, "Short young woman with black hair and eyes?" to try to pin down if its the same person before taking another bite of her steak.
"Prone to wearing Evee themed pokemon hoodies," Ed adds, clearly feeling that this is a defining feature. "She's a friend."
"She's a friend of mine also," Vic says while nodding to the definitive confirmation of the girl's identity. "How do you know her, Ed?" she asks.
"Met her here at one point," Ed claims, jabbing a french fry towards the bar. "And at Guardian Games. That's a fun place if you're into role playing games and the like. Rustin, the owner keeps a vintage pop machine in the place that dispenses free soda. Seems that well caffeinated geeks tend to spend more money."
Vic ahs softly. "Its my first visit to this place," Vic says before commenting on Rustin and his shop, "He's offered me a job there so you may end up seeing me there from time to time as well," and adding, "Won't ever say no to free pop," with a grin. Before taking another bite of her meal, Vic asks, "How well do you know Evie?"
"I like this place," Ed claims, looking around the bar for the moment. "And Conn. The owner. Always polite, even if he gives the same spiel to every new face that walks in the door. As for Evie," Ed adds with a shrug. "Well enough. Was at her place earlier in the evening for a visit. And if Rustin wants to hire you, I'd take him up in it. His shop seems to be doing really well, so the work'd be secure."
Vic nods. "Unfortunately, where I'm from 'table top' gaming never really became main stream so I'm on the low end of the learning curve," she explains using a pair of words that - in this combination - is obviously a phrase she's only recently picked up. Then, on the topic of Evie, she says, "Lucky you, I've not gotten an invite to her place myself, she must really trust you."
Then, during a pause she tries to cover by taking a bite of her potato, she seems to contemplate something which leads to her shaking her head no at the softly whispered ("If Evie trusts her you should stop being so circumspect and ask more probing questions") from the voice of Wordsworth in her mind. Instead, she then asks, "So, what games are you into," and explains, "I have heard that Dungeons and Dragons really sparked a change here in the past couple of decades."
Ed's eyebrows scrunch together for a moment at the mention of 'where I'm from,' but she seems to bush it off. At the mention of trust, the interestingly dressed woman actually looks a little embarrassed and attempts to hide the expression behind her glass of soda. "Yea, I guess she does," she mumbles. "I've played D&D online a fair bit," Ed claims. "The whole panic over it in the eighties was outright silly. People get worked up over the strangest things sometimes."
Vic laughs and says, "Yeah, that and Rock really had their panties in a bind back in the 80s. They let up on video games and music but I think that RPGs allowed too much free thinking so the powers that be kept the panic ramped up. Its so much nicer here."
"Rock?" Ed asks, looking utterly confused. "Where exactly are you from?" She asks, curiosity finally getting the better of her. "You don't have an accent that I've noticed, or anything else that would suggest you're from anywhere aside from North America..."
Vic says, “Rock'n'roll," Vic says, continuing with, "Called the devil's music by people in the 50s and into the 80s during the era you were talking about." She then pauses and takes the last bite of her steak. After a sip of her soda she continues while also cutting a piece of skin off her potato and using the inner side to mop up some of the meat juice on the plate. "So... that's a very complicated question, Ed," she says and then asks, "How much do you know really?" stressing the word know in a way that she hopes is meaningful to Ed and then, while waiting for a response - spoken or not - puts the meaty potato skin into her mouth and audibly savors its taste.”
Ed had been bringing her soda to he lips, but Vic's words bring her up short and she pretty much freezes in place for a bit. Actually, she literally freezes, going rigidly still. Is she even breathing? Oh yes, yes she is. Well, now is is, at the very least. Clearing her throat, she sets down her glass. "Actually think I should get going. Have another appointment to keep before I'm done for the evening."
A frown of concern grows across Vic's features as she reacts to Ed's discomfort. "Oh," she says, "I hope you get everything done in time then, Ed." She then pauses a moment and says, "Please don't be a stranger, any friend of Evie's is a friend of mine," as well.
Ed rises from her seat and offers up a smile, although it comes off as a little strained. "Of course, Have a good evening, Vic.
As Ed rises, Vic says, "Have a good night also, Ed," and then pulls out her smartphone on which she activates a coin flipping app. Then, she mutters words about memory ("RAM, ROM, recollection, cognizance") as she evokes a Mind/Time rote to replay a moment in time from her memory in both perfect recollection and vision.
This was a Mind+Time rote to rewind Vic's memories to the moment that Ed stopped breathing. She got 2 successes which lead to this comment from Ed: <OOC> Ed says, "So, yea, living people can't go that still. No arteries in the neck pulsing. No breathing. Blinking. Didn't last long, but isn't quite right." This translates to Vic knowing that Ed isn't truly human, but she doesn't know the Truth yet either.
Ed heads out the door without looking back, acting as if she is in a bit of a hurry.
