Logs:A Chance Encounter

From From Dusk till Jawn
Jump to navigation Jump to search


Cast

Anneliese Kiel, Billie Mulgrew, Michelle Hawthorne, Jane Martingale

Setting

A mall

Log

Weekday, midday, in a relatively quiet time of year means the mall is not a complete and total zoo. That doesn't mean Jane's comfortable here, on her own, though. She's tol and muscley and dressed in a tank top and jeans, a flannel tied around her waist, currently looking in the window of a Yankee Candle with a frown.

Michelle is nearby, walking out of Starbucks. She holds something that smells ridiculous and is probably a zillion calories. She pauses long enough to inhale the scent of what she's got in her hand--in a venti, of course--before walking near Jane.

Jane catches the smell and turns to look toward Chelle. Because while that smells like a diabetic coma in a cup, sometimes that's just what one needs.

Chelle notices the look and gives a smile and a wave. "Hi."

"Hi, sorry. What're you drinking? It smells neat." Awkward Jane is Awkward.

"Don't apologize. This decadence is a caramel macchiato with an extra shot of caramel." She smiles. "My name is Michelle." She shifts the cup to her left hand and extends the right.

"Nice to meet you. Jane." She accepts the offered hand with a secure (though not painful) grip.

I don't know why a mall would have a small comic book store (Hero Ink) right next to a Yankee Candle, but apparently this mall does now.

Billie exits carrying a brown paper bag full of books held against her chest... and wearing a flowy pastel crop-top, low-rise stone-wash skinny jeans, white ankle boots, and a pair of elbow-length gloves. She notices Jane and offers a little - definitely embarrassed - wave.

Chelle's grip is far from weak, perhaps surprisingly. She grins. "Pleasure's mine. What has you out today?" She looks at the candle store questioningly before looking back at Jane. Then she glances over at the glove-wearing woman. "Hey, I didn't know there was a comic shop here. I wonder if they have the Deluxe first volume of DC's Bombshells," she muses aloud.

Jane glances at Billie, and then at the gloves, and there's a bit of a smirk that appears on her face. "Good look on you."

Anneliese is coming the other way, a small instrument case tucked under one arm. Once she gets within a few feet, soft klezmer music can be heard emanating from her, only just audible against the background noise of the mall.

Chelle raises a hand. "Oh, hey, Anneliese," she says cheerily.

"Heh, yeah. It's just tragic that I had already spent so much on my nails before discovering this..." She pauses, considering her surroundings. "Hot trend?"

She begins to close in on Jane and Cass when she hears mention of Anneliese's name, and her expression brightens as she looks around for the other woman.

There's a chuckle, both at Billie's awkward cover-up and at how she perks when she realizes Anneliese is here. Then Jane glances at Chelle again. "Social butterfly, do you just know everyone?" The tease is gentle and friendly.

Grinning, Chelle shrugs. "I don't know your friend with the gloves," she says lightly to Jane.

"That's Billie. She's, uh. Cool, I guess. She's also completely besotted, so might not even realize we're talking about her."

Hearing her name gets a blink. "Chelle! Sorry, did not see you there at first." She glances at Billie, a soft smile on her face as she bumps the other woman with her hip. "How have you been?" is murmured.

"Oh, it's fine," the redhead says, waving the apology away. "How are you today, Anneliese?" Then she looks between Anneliese and Billie, raises an eyebrow, and looks questioningly at Jane.

Jane nods. "They're adorable together, aren't they?"

Chelle nods, grinning.

"That's untrue - I'm perfectly cogent," she turns her attention back to the group, shifting her comic bag under one arm so that she can more effectively nudge Anneliese back. "... what do you mean adorable?"

Jane holds up both hands in a heart. "Adorable. Adjective, I think. Totally cute as a fucking button together."

"I gotta agree. Objectively, and all." Chelle grins a bit wickedly.

A cough, her face pinking slightly. "Thank you for the compliment, I think?" Anneliese glances at Michelle's coffee cup. "That smells rather interesting, might I ask what is in it?" Obvious topic change is obvious.

Chelle smiles. "It's a caramel macchiato with an extra shot of caramel."

Billie, terminal flirt that she is, seems a little confused as to what's so adorable about her very obviously normal behavior but goes with the flow of the conversational change.

"God, coffee sounds amazing, though..."

"Yeah. The Starbucks is just past the Yankee Candle if you wanna get some with me?"

"... yeah, let's do that." Billie gives Anneliese a little squeeze. "You gonna be here when I get back, Annie - or was this just a chance encounter?"

"The latter, but I can find a seat somewhere if you wish to talk after your coffee?"

"I can join you and wait with you, if that would be okay, Anneliese." Chelle pipes up before sipping from her drink.

Jane grins. "Sounds like a plan. We'll be back."

"If you have someplace to be, I won't keep you - it's not like I don't have your number." She sticks out her tongue, and disentangles from Anneliese to follow Jane off to the Starbucks.

As they walk off, Jane leans into Billie slightly. "Gloves: good idea. Opera gloves: fucking bold idea."

"No especial plans at this point," Anneliese reassures, very definitely not watching her go. Okay, maybe a little. She glances at Chelle. "Any preference for location?"

Chelle gestures with her free hand toward a nearby bench. "How's that?"

"Sounds good." She crosses to it and sits carefully, placing her newly-acquired instrument in her lap.

Chelle sits beside her fellow Lost. "What kind of instrument is that?" she asks. Of course she'd recognize an instrument case, musician that she is.

"Yeah," Billie giggles. "I already had them, and I didn't want to risk anybody brushing even my forearm by accident until I could figure out how to deal with it."

She pauses. "Hey, I'm sorry by the way. I didn't know what I was doing, and I hope you didn't end up getting hurt by my... uhh. Gift."

"I mean, I'm fine. A lot of the mistakes I made after that were my own. We're cool. You're cool? Gonna, uh. Figure yourself out, maybe with the help of some good friends?"

"A violin," she answers, her blush deepening slightly. "I had been planning to surprise Billie by playing for her, but I suppose that is no longer possible."

"Aww." Chelle says. "I didn't know you played. That's a really versatile instrument. I find it fascinating."

"... actually I already did," Billie attempts to keep her face a mask while remembering the... intense encounter. "I met up with Devan, saw the Ready Room, learned how to wrangle my Mutant Ability. It was a good time, and I'm feeling confident about how to move forward. Hopefully with all of y'all."

"Cool. Very cool. Devan wasn't a shit to you or anything? He can be..." She searches for a euphemism for a long moment. "...intense."

"I used to, but not for... a while," Anneliese admits, knowing the fellow Lost will understand the implication. "Do you play as well, or just sing?"

Nodding, Chelle definitely understands. "I can plink at a piano, but no. I mostly sing." She smiles at Anneliese.

"Heh," a little blush creeps into Billie's cheeks, and she runs a hand through her hair. "Yeah, it was a but awkward at first, but mostly because I was embarrassed about my behavior the last time we'd met. He was careful with the trust I placed in him, kind and understanding, and patient with me when I was being skeptical."

She catches herself. "Well. Long story short. intense? Yes. A shit? No."

Jane raises one eyebrow. "Huh, maybe he is learning."

"Hah. What do you mean?"

Jane pauses to pick up her drink before answering. "He's gotten some flack lately for being pushy with people. But he is good people, alright? Just really, really intense."

Anneliese returns the smile. "Fair. They are very different skills, after all, even if some are lucky enough to have both." Like her, for instance.

Chelle nods with a smile. She sips from her drink before asking, "I forget - do you sing as well?"

"Huh. From this experience with him, I never would've thought to criticize that about him." Billie grabs her own drink. "Though our experience was super fucking intense - I just attributed that to the nature of what we were doing at the time."

"Yes, actually. Mostly, well, I am sure you can guess." Even amongst those pledged to Spring, not everyone has their own backing track.

She nods. She can definitely hear it--and she smiles for it. "That's very neat."

"...phrasing?" Jane shakes her head, starting back toward the other ladyfolks.

"... heh. Yeah, my bad." She runs a hand through her hair again, looking more confused than the last time.

"Thank you." She takes a sip from her ever-present water bottle before glancing up. "Ah, it seems as if they are rejoining us."

"I mean, I'm not one to judge, what I do is all tactile in nature too, so." She shrugs.

Chelle looks up. "Ah, hello," she says to Billie and Jane.

"What to you mean by tactile in nature? Just. Gift-wise?" She asks Jane in a quiet tone as an aside before waving at the two waiting women.

A nod. "Yeah. I can do things to people I touch. Anyway, that's a story for later."

And as they reach the other two, she smiles at Anneliese. "You know, I don't know if we've met properly yet. I'm Jane. I've caught your name, wasn't sure if you have mine."

"Anneliese, but you already know that," she answers with a smile, extending one hand to Jane.

She takes the offered hand for a firm shake. "Right. But sometimes it's nice to get things squared away properly."

Chelle is about to say something but her phone rings. "Ah, I should answer this. Nice to meet you, Jane, Billie," she says, lifting her cup in a salute before heading toward the nearest exit, chattering quietly into her cell phone.

"True." Chelle's departure gets a brief wave before her attention returns to Jane and Billie. "Did you have any plans for the rest of the day?"

"I didn't really, but uh...don't necessarily want to be a third wheel if you guys are going to do a thing?"

"Nice to meet you too - sorry we didn't get to talk much." Billie offers with a wave. She takes a sip of her matcha latte, absentmindedly closing the gap between her and Anneliese. "I've got some work stuff to handle later in the evening, but I've got time to hang out for a bit." Pause. "Jane, why would you be a third wheel."

"Because you two are, like..." Jane's attempt to hand gesture instead of actually finishing the sentence looks kind of ridiculous.

Anneliese looks politely quizzical. "That does not mean we cannot enjoy the company of others, does it?"

Billie looks mildly thrown as Jane gestures. "Oh, what? We're not- err." She turns to Anneliese. "Hrrm. Are we?"

"Well, yeah, but I didn't want to be in the way or nothing." She pauses, then looks at Billie. "You're not? Give the pretty girl a shiny pebble already."

"It is complicated, as the Facebook says," Anneliese notes solemnly.

"Right. Okay. I'm going to head home, so you can detangle that without the pressure of a third party. But Billie, if you need to get ahold of me, Devan has my number."

"Will do, Jane. See you around - and thanks again for the chat." She turns awkwardly back to Anneliese. "Wanna head somewhere more private and have a chat about stuff, then?"

"Okay." She shifts the instrument case to one side as she stands, before picking it up. "Cannot leave that."