Dec 05 02:35:20 108 PA - A Worry Shared Over Slop

From Chronicles

Dec 05 02:35:20 108 PA.

HAPPY BURGER

Two in the morning at Happy Burger? Sure, why not. So this hour finds Gabriel sitting against a window in an uncomfortable fixed orange fiberglass seat that's also tucked too close to the table. He looks happy enough though. Is he eating a healthy salad? No. How about one notch up, moving on to lightweight chicken fingers? Nope. No, he is feasting away at a greasy burger that has to have started off at a third of a pound, with cheese, lettuce, onions, tomato, olives and a large pouring of barbecue sauce. A fizzy cola drink the size of a common two liter bottle, double-extra large set of twirly fries and a sundae waiting for him with an unfortunately small plastic spoon when he's done.

Ain't a place Bella figgered she was gonna be neither. Mostly cause they cook the meat way too long. But other people come 'ere. 'N people're good ta find. 'Specially old good guys 'n after weird radio calls. She pokes her head in. Looks 'round. Then starts headin fer that windowy orange seat.

Gabriel's meal is an interesting one. Despite the slop, the grease makes it taste incredible, and his own deft use of napkins - both local paper and cloth that travels with him - keeps his important fingers from getting dirty. He's rather fastidious that way. But Happy Burger is a loud place, with lots of moving screaming kids and equally screaming parents. Some species are nocturnal. The Kentuckian takes a moment from the burger to stuff his face with fries.

Bella smirks watchin him munchin. 'R stuffin. When she gets to Gabe she plops her butt down onna other side. Ain' gonna get inna way. She'd maybe get bit. "Looks like yer hungry."

Gabriel waves - with his burger. His mouth is stuffed. Finally, the 'food' is swallowed with the assistance of the cola, and he answers. "Well, even for me, winter is a more difficult time to forage. The berries and nuts are largely picked and gone, the larger game is hibernating and the small animals have the snow surface, which keeps them out of some of my snares. I could survive on it, but as I do have a few credits here and there, it never hurts to make sure that I'm full." He bites and swallows again, continuing, "I have the C-rations, but I figure those should be left for what they're supposed to be used for. How about you? Looking for something on the rare side?"

"Somethin like that. Lookin fer ya." Bella points a finger. Then brows pop up. "What's goin on? Figgered ev'rythin was all good 'n planned 'n stuff. Then there's weird shit onna radio thing. Somebody fack somethin up already? 'Fore we even did nothin?"

"Yeah, we have a problem. Or potentially a problem." Gabriel clears his throat and puts his food down, wiping at his fingers. "I spoke with Bartholemew, and he seems to think that one person in our midst may be a bit... let's say a spy, or a turncoat. No names for now. I figured that putting off an assault to make sure that things were all in order was better than charging in and getting shot in the back, right?" He snickers a little. "Sorry to get your hopes up about the excitement, though."

Bella blinks. "Wow. Bart?" She's all surprised. "Weren' thinkin he was even in onna thing. 'Cept fer think Jax said somethin bout buyin stuff offa 'im 'r somethin." She shrugs. Then goes back ta curious. "Gonna do another meetin thing?"

"We have to," Gabriel says. The greasy and sticky parts of his meal have been pushed away, leaving only the soda and sundae. "We need another meeting, and we need everyone there before it gets discussed. Maybe even some new people." He looks somewhat oddly at Bella, adding, "Sometimes I need to call in experts when I don't know everything as well as I'd like to." Changing the subject slightly, he asks, "Don't suppose you've learned anything further about Donna and the club?"

"New people?" Bella's smirkin 'gain. "So much fer keepin shit all quiet." Now she shakes her head. "Nope. Ain't been there much. Th'other night fer a li'l bit. Justa getta drink. Keep things lookin all normal 'n stuff. Weren' thinkin it'd be smart ta go askin a buncha stuff. People get tipped off that way."

"Not permanent new people. Just temporary experts," Gabriel says flatly in between sips of soda. "You mind telling me what people like Donna can do with a person when they take over a person's mind?"

Bella ain't smirkin at that. More upside down smirkin. "Whatever they wanna. Mostly. Same's anybody with mind powers makin somebody do somethin I'm guess." Li'l bitta smirk comes back. She points at his food. "Could make ya eat alla that. Ferget it. Be hungry 'gain. Fer a li'l while anyways. Don' last ferever."

Gabriel asks bluntly, "I know that you hate vampires as much as anyone. But I also know that the little... trade... is a pretty sweet deal for you. Who wins, Bella? The ease of the trade and benefits that you could reap, or the vampires and whatever other dastardly plans they have for the future?" He looks on with keen interest, not even sucking on his straw at the moment.

"Trade?" Bella's back ta curious. Brows pop up. Then she's quiet a second. Thinkin. "Ya mean the drinks? Ain't bad. Even better fer humans. Cause ain' nobody gettin dead." One brow quirks up a li'l more. "Gonna tell me that ain't good?"

"I'll tell you that it's good that no one's being killed. But that's not what I asked." Gabriel makes a soft motion. "I asked which was more important to you; the trade for food, or the obvious but as-yet-unknown plans that they have for the future? Even if all it might mean is a foothold."

Bella shrugs. "Dunno. Dunno any big plans they got fer the city. Maybe none. Maybe lots." She eyes him back. Just one brow popped up. "Guessin ev'rybody's thinkin they got some. Wouldn'a been all plannin ta run in 'n try notta get tore up if not right?'

Gabriel nods. "Right. Bella, can other people like you and Donna determine if someone is under the influence of someone like you or Donna?" His questions are rather short and brief for the time being, although he does push his sundae across the table, complete with spoon. "Here, try it. Chocolate and vanilla's a great mix."

"Ain't hard. If ya know somebody." Bella smirks. "People walkin round like they're on somethin's kinda easy ta spot. Bet there's lotsa people't can mess with heads. Ain't justa somebody like me thing." She eyes the sundae a li'l 'n shrugs 'fore takin a li'l bite.

The older man watches. Or perhaps, the old man watches, whichever is more appropriate. "What about Sebastien? He's a brave guy, but at our meeting? C'mon, let's be honest. He was a big, whiny little pussy. I know he's the white knight kind, but that seemed excessive even for him. I mean, sure, raise concerns about innocents. But he was bleeding all over the table." Gabriel waits on that for an opinion.

Bella 's right back ta smirkin. "Yeah. Kinda saw that. Dunno how he's a big fighter 'n stuff. Don' want nobody ta get hurt. Worry wart. 'R maybe he's justa big pussy. All wind 'n shit. Ain't shuddup bout worryin. Thinks buncha people're gonna die." A shrug. "Maybe will. Maybe won't. But dunno how he's gonna do anythin aways freakin out."

Gabriel leans forward. "Okay, that's what I'm saying though. He's always been annoying and prissy. But now prissy has replaced the 'r' and 'i' with a single 'u' to become complete pussy. That just doesn't make sense. Yes, people can change. But the man's designed to battle the undead. Now he's just going to wuss out like some kind of fairy? No, no. It just doesn't clear the normal-meter." He lowers his voice. "I'm asking, please. Do what you can to see if he's under someone's control. Specifically, vampiric control. I got some good intelligence about it, which is why I called off the assault. Even if it turns out not to be true, I'd rather have put it off than have taken the chance of going into battle with someone who might shoot me in the back, right?"

Bella thinks bout that. Nods. "Ok. Good thinkin. Course." She adds some. "Me 'r anybody askin' 'im bout stuff ta check's ain't good. If somebody's messin with his head it's gonna tip 'em off. Gonna put things off more too. 'N that maybe's just helpin 'em too." She thinks a li'l more. "What 'bout just not takin him? Not tellin 'im when. 'R tellin 'im wrong?'

Gabriel holds a hand out and shoulder level. "Well, sure, we could try to leave him out. But I figure that if he knows, and if he really is controlled, he'll just warn the person. But, as you say, we could then just try to keep him in the dark. If he's controlled, I'd rather know for sure, so I knew if he had to be tied up, put down, or something else. Or ideally? Turned back into non-whining Sebastien." He frowns then, affirming, "Yeah, asking questions might arouse suspicion. Which is why if you can't do it alone? I figure we'll hold an intervention. With the outside experts. Just pounce on him. Maybe?" He arches a brow, questioning out of his area of expertise, but only a little.

"Maybe." Bella shrugs. "Lotsa maybes 'n dunnos. We grab 'im 'n he knows. Let 'im go 'n he tells we know. Don' let 'im go 'n maybe they get all wonderin where he's at. Maybe better just makin 'im think it's gonna be way later 'r somethin. Let 'im tell 'em. Still s'prise 'em." And back to smirk. Big one. "Course maybe we're way off. Been a whiny ass ferever. Just likes makin people think he ain't."

Gabriel frowns. "Well, I'd like to know. I'd rather tie him up somewhere until the matter is resolved, one way or another. If you, or anyone else could tell, can you break it? Maybe use your own powers?" His face breaks into a somewhat evil grin. "Or maybe we can just get together and everyone beat the shit out of him until his mind is too dull to hold it anymore!" Is he kidding?

Bella shakes her head. "Ya wan't somebody outta his head ya gotta cut it off. 'R the one in it. Course that's pretty much right back ta the whole thing anyways." A li'l shrug. "Can try 'n talk ta 'im if ya wanna though. Dunno if it'll undo nothin." More thinkin. Then she perks up some. A grin. "Maybe be 'nuff ta get 'im ta fess up though." Now her brow goes up too. "That be good 'nuff?"

"Yeah, yeah. If he'd tell you that he's under control, that would be something. Who knows, maybe he's like an addict; he's under control and can't do anything about it, but's also crying out for help? I guess we can hope." Gabriel sips on his straw long enough that he gets down to the low and noisy slurping part.

Bella nods some. Gets a li'l more bite'a sundae. "Least I can try I guess. If ya wanna." Back to shruggin. "Yer the boss fer alla this. Gotta do somethin though."

"Find out all you can, but be discrete. Best case, get him to blubber about it and admit it. But I'd rather you learn nothing at all than tip him off but lose out in the end," Gabriel says, his soda pushed to the side. "Make sense? I've been hunting around looking for others who might be able to tell. We'll all just have to do what we can. Even just aborting the mission had to be done without explanation, or *if* he is controlled, word could have gotten back to that bitch that someone had actually come up with a good plan. Fair enough?"

"Yep." Bella nods s'more. "Can try 'n get somethin. 'N be sneaky bout it." S'more smirk comes back. "Course punchin him inna head still sounds kinda good too. He'sa asshole."

Gabriel chuckles. "Indeed, he can be an asshole. But most of us can be from time to time, right?"

Bella's smirk gets bigger. "Yeah." She points a finger again. "Yer good't that sometimes too. Guess ev'rybody's gotta thing fer it sometimes." She can be a bitch. 'N not just when she's got four paws.

"Sometimes assholes are best at getting what they need! Sometimes it's the suck-up, sometimes it's the perfect gentleman, sometimes it's the commander," Gabriel says with smile, and an odd tone of pride. "I wear many hats, which is why I'm pretty good at my job, and have survived this long. Fuck, a year here and I'm still kicking? That's pretty impressive, in my eyes. It's all about the image, and thinking about what the other guy is going to expect."

"Sounds kinda like the Dregs." A nod. Then Bella shrugs. "Guess't's ev'rywhere. Just more 'r less 'r a li'l diff'rent. Fer diff'rent places. Soon's ya stop bein all suspicious 'n thinkin ahead yer done."

Gabriel smiles and leans back in his terribly uncomfortable chair. "Well, it's more than that. Sure, day to day living might involve that, but professionals need planning, forethought, deliberate skill at both physical and psychological disguises. I ran a Spetsnaz unit in Sevastopol with Natasha. Red Army officers never even knew that Colonel Solomovicic was a Pollack in the CIA. It's a costume, a persona." He tries to emphasize where he's coming from.

Bella gets that. Ok. Some of that. "Course. Ya do whatcha can do. Stupid people die lots more. 'N quicker." A li'l grin. "Like ya said. Yer still 'ere 'n kickin." The Spetsnapol solomollack stuff's kinda over her head. Maybe up over the nasty bright yellow roof.

"How about you, Bella? What'd you do before your life changed?" Gabriel says it as if both of their lives changed equally. In some ways, they did. They both lost everything and had to start new lives that they don't like.

"Stayed breathin." Bella shrugs. Could be a joke. But it ain't. "Did whatever kept me kickin. Eatin. Maybe a li'l extra here 'n there. But mostly just not gettin dead." Now she smirks gain. "Guessin it didn' work so good."

Gabriel raises an eyebrow, perhaps considering a snappy comeback, but he doesn't offer one. "Someday you'll have to tell me how many candles to put on your birthday cake, Bella. Jaxain tells me that there's some kind of weird thing going on up north. Big battleship that might have been mine. I guess he's going after it, though he didn't say if he was going with anyone." He slips his head to one side. "Maybe you could go and watch after him? He can be a little reckless sometimes. Or, let's just say 'stupid' at times."

Bella does somethin a li'l diff'rent. Snickers. But nods a bunch too. "Sounds bout right. Ain't heard lots on alla that. Dunno. Don't like goin too far. 'N be stoppin lots. Eatin 'n sleepin 'n stuff." Ev'rybody's gotta do that. She just can't do it easy's ev'rybody.

"I understand." He doesn't. But he doesn't have much else to say other than to pry, and Gabriel clearly doesn't feel like doing that. Instead, he starts to gather together his trash, including the unfinished burger and fries - though he does offer it to Bella. "I think I'll take off. Those snowy snares might catch something before the sun comes up. I can always hope, right?"

"Can hope." Bella shrugs. Points atta trash. "Hope ya don' gotta come back ta eat that shit 'gain." Yep. Now there's grinnin. "Don' get lost inna snow. Betcha ain't no fun if ya get all froze."

Gabriel smiles, and scoots to the side just enough to expose a neat pile of environmental armor and a jet pack that he'd been hiding between himself and the wall. "It's been a very strange day. I don't usually get around like this, but it was necessary. I shouldn't have trouble." Standing, he starts to strap everything on in the right places. "You stay warm, Bella. I'm sure you must have a beautiful coat." Wink.