Jun 16 18:54:53 108 PA - Imagined Betrayal
From Chronicles
Jun 16 18:54:53 108 PA.
SILVER FORK
The Silver Fork is decked out tonight with its best foot forward. All metal surfaces have been shined, all cloth cleaned, seat cushions padded and with a classy banner up near the maitre de's stand announcing, "Welcome to an Evening at the Fork, A Midsummer Night's Dream." Indeed, even a small string quartet is set up in a distant corner, providing pleasant music from times long past. Way, far, long past. Gabriel is waiting at the counter, dressed appropriately for such an event, and chatting with the fellow behind the small stand over which table he's going to land.
Erica comes into the Silver Fork dressed up in her little red dress and high heels. She makes her way up to the counter and offers Gabriel a warm smile as she walks up to him. "Well this is nice." She mentions while she looks around the restaurant. "So shall we go to our table?"
"Absolutely, Erica," Gabriel says, extending a crooked elbow as an escort to the table. Pulling her chair out and everything. Looks like they even shined the silverware! As he settles into his own chair at a table that is pleasantly near to the middle of the room, he says, "This is nice. I think I've gotten to dress up what, maybe one other time since I've been here? Always been a sucker for a classy party. And may I say, you look fantastic as always."
Erica places her hand on Gabriel's offered elbow. She follows him over to the table. She nods her head to Gabriel in thanks as she sits down in the chair he pulled out. "Well this has always been a nice place. I eat here fairly frequently. I dress up a lot as well. If you want to dress up more often you should. So what is it you want to eat?" She asks while she picks up the menu and starts looking over it.
Gabriel doesn't hesitate to answer, and with gusto - quiet enough to be proper, of course. "I would like a *large* and *juicy* steak. Of genuine beef cow, not giant beetle. No thanks." He chuckles a little at that, muttering something about beetles under his breath. "You come here a lot? I didn't know that. Not that there's any reason I should, of course. I thought you just frequented the clubs. You know, the Alibi, the Nightingale," he uses his right hand to indicate general directions. A passing waiter is flagged down for a bottle of Merlot, before he asks, "You? A particularly special meal tonight? It's very Shakespearean."
Erica chuckles softly as she looks over the menu. "Sure whenever I want a good meal I come here." She flips the menu over to the wine menu and starts looking at what bottles are available. "Well the clubs don't really serve food, so I have to come to some place to eat." As Gabriel takes the liberty to order wine for them she smiles looking bemused. "Oh I thought I would try something nice. Maybe some fish or some muscles. Not sure."
A few nods are followed by, "Well, I guess I'm just an old fashioned Kentucky boy who likes his snared rabbit, caught squirrel, hooked fish, and the occasional shot doe." Gabriel winks across the table at his long-haired meal companion for the evening. "The only times that I eat anywhere outside of my place? You've seen me. Kind of like Happy Burger. Reminds of White Castle." After raising his menu to peer down at its carefully scripted explanations, he says, "Skip the muscles and go for oysters? Aphrodisiac? Performance-enhancing-substance? In a special realm of performance enhancement?" A quiet chuckle dies away.
"I prefer muscles to oysters. Muscles in a good sauce are divine. Sides I have heard oysters are dangerous. They carry more radiation or something. I get enough rads as is I don't need to pick up more. I don't need any aphrodisiacs I am sexually frustrated enough." Erica says with a chuckle and a slight shake of her head. "I'm not a big fast food fan. I get enough bad food out in the field. I don't see why I should punish myself when I'm in the city." She smiles at the waiter as he comes back and pours them glasses of wine after offering the cork to Gabriel to approve.
"Ahhchh." Strange sounds come from Gabriel's mouth. "Poo. Everyone's so caught up on things that life gets passed by. I'm not bashing you or anything, it just that people in this place take everything so seriously. Yeah, a lot of things suck. Big news - things have always kind of sucked!" He whispers away into quiet chuckles again, having carefully sidestepped the dinnertime issue of sexual frustration and trying to get a friend laid to make her feel better. "I can't believe that after this many number of who knows how many years, if people are walking around safe and sound not disintegrating from radiation poisoning, that fresh oysters would do you harm. But..." he holds up an amused hand with an amused smile "... it's your call. Now where's the giant streak?"
"Well I think from what you mentioned there were less demons to come and steal your soul. Also less creatures from places other then earth." Erica says with a wry look on her face. She picks up her wine glass and takes a little smell from the wine before she tastes it. "I prefer muscles like I already said. What giant streak are you talking about?" She asks with obvious confusion.
Gabriel replies to Erica's first comment in a deadpan, "What? No, no, we had just as many soul sucking creatures in my time. Two different species, even. Lawyers, and politicians." He moves on as if it weren't a joke. "You know, steak. Giant steak, juicy stake. Note rare, not charred, not medium. Not medium rare, but somewhere between medium and rare. It's a delicate touch. But genuine bovine meat, I don't want to chew on something that come from an animal with an exoskeleton."
Erica rolls her eyes as she shakes her head. "You think lawyers, and politicians have vanished?" She says in response before taking a small sip from her glass of wine. "I like a good steak as much as the next girl. It is nice a little bloody with a good side like a baked potato."
"Oh, yes. Baked potatoes. You know," Gabriel says, leaning forward slightly and raising a finger, "I used to wonder how the hell the city fed itself, then I discovered all the agriculture out east. I'm sure there's still a lot of import-export, but yeah, that was interesting. You know what else goes great with it? Gravy. Lots of gravy. And corn." His voice is lowered. "Don't try to bullshit me into calling it maize, it's not. It's corn. Limey bastards laughed at us, sure. But I think we won bragging rights." He straightens up with a smile and winks. "A salad, too. I'm really going to gorge myself. Want to split a bread basket?" He suddenly pauses.. turns his eyes, and his lips quirk into a smile. "Listen, they're playing 'Four Seasons.'"
"Ugh, I am not a fan of gravy really." Erica says with slight look of disgust. "It covers all the taste. Sure I'll have some bread." She says as she takes out a butter knife from where it is set. Picking up a small piece of bread she spreads some butter on it. "Well I am taking the muscles, and I might have something else after that. Have to see how filling the muscles are."
Gabriel laughs quietly as his menu is folded and placed politely to the side - where he will collect his companion's menu, if it's ready to be placed. "Well, my dear, gravy is a Kentucky staple. So is frying in oil, but I don't see that on the menu. Where do they import the muscles from? Far as I know, they're filter feeders, so they need moving water. Freshwater, particularly. Aren't a whole bundle of large rivers around here. Someone pack 'em in from the Mississippi?"
"There is a river right over by Merctown. And that isn't very far away. Heck there is regular and reliable passenger service between here and there. You don't think they can pick up mussels? You should really learn geography." Erica says with a chuckle as she shakes her head. "But their are plenty of salt water mussels as well."
"Last time I checked, we weren't real close to saltwater, unless geography has changed even more than I thought." Gabriel waves off the rest of it. "Merctown, yes. It's the Ohio River, or at least what used to be the Ohio River. Beautiful piece of creation. If I need to learn anything, it's the continental economy, barter, cash, trade routes, things like that." The thought is then filed away and shrugged off. As he picks out a piece of bread, butters it and... begins to cut it apart with a knife and fork... he asks, "So've you been on the ride for any interesting jobs lately? Or would you rather that we stick to the pleasant evening and not talk shop?"
"True I guess we aren't too close to the gulf, but I think there are some towns around where the gulf meets the river. I am pretty sure they do a lot of fishing, although they have problems with slavers from Atlantis." Erica says with a little shrug of her shoulders. She turns and smiles as the waiter brings her a large bowl of mussels in a wine sauce. Picking one up she pops it open with her fork and takes out the meat. Popping it in her mouth she lets out a pleased noise. "No I haven't had any work in some time. It would be nice to get paid."
"I thought that Atlantis was a lot farther than that. Like off Cape Hatteras. Seems like a long trip do grabs some slaves from the Gulf. But, hey I didn't have monster slavers roaming the oceans. What do I know? Good shellfish?" Gabriel apparently has to wait a while longer for his 24 ounce stake to simmer in its own juices. "I ah.. I have a terrible admission. But I have other fun things to talk about too. Still, you should know. I haven't signed papers or anything, and I don't intend to, but I'm going to be running with Bart, Val, and Bella. I thought that I could make it on my own, or you and me together, but they just hogged the shit. Nothing for anyone else. Something to Tolkeen, something to Whykin, they're even trying to take over a fucking minor creature problem down south of the city. Can't compete with that." He looks away, a little ashamed. "I figure that I can make cash and more importantly, make a *name* for myself, then hop off and be in demand on my own. Not that I'm happy with it. Just didn't see any other way to get my own goals on track."
"I guess you don't know much about slaving then. You go to where the people are to capture them. They have plenty Horune slavers that ply the oceans of the world to take slaves back to Atlantis. Really you should stop focusing on that silly past of yours and learn more about where you are." Erica says with a slight shake of her head before she opens up another mussel. "Yes the food is good. Well congrats for selling out then." She says before taking a long sip from her glass of wine. "Good luck with that."
"Those who don't learn from history are destined to repeat it. I'm the walking repository of what to remember," Gabriel says with a smile. "Yeah, yeah, sell out, I know you were going to say that. Monopolies can't be broken by small business, that's a fact. Small businesses can't compete. They either die off or at best eek out a meager existence. So, you do what you can. Make your cash, advertise yourself, pretty soon Harley splits off from Indian and becomes the dominant player. I don't like it. It pisses me off. But even doing good deeds pro bono means that I need to repair armor and refill eclips from somewhere."
Erica opens up another mussel in silence as she continues to eat. She chases the mussel with another gulp of wine. Reaching over she grabs the bottle and refills her glass of wine. "Well you do whatever you want to do." She says finally.
Gabriel leans back as his steak is delivered. "It's not a *want* it's a 'no real options.' Face it, freelance contractors were out-maneuvered. They won. You can't beat 'em, you might as well join 'em, right? But then you keep in mind the sophisticated military part of your mind, and get yourself known and skilled and armed just enough to that when the time comes, you can walk away. Nicely, or stabbing in the back. Not that I'm asking for your permission, just laying out my strategy. Feign ignorance, feign weakness, gain strength. Very famous man said that. How's the wine sauce?"
"It is fine." Erica says in answer to the question about her food. She keeps working on the mussels in mostly silence while taking the occasional sip of her wine. She seems disinclined to conversation at this point it seems.
Gabriel lets out a large sigh. "I know. Doesn't mean I can't stay out of a job. Just means that I don't get *left* out, either. If you can't even get hired on to keep a barnyard clean, you need to change your approach. Anyway. Couple of weeks ago we were talking about teaching back and forth. What I know, what you know. I need those heavy weapons you keep mentioning. What can I do for you?"
"You are a jackass Gabriel. You take me out to a nice place knowing that I would react badly to you signing up with them. You do it so that I won't just walk out. And now you are asking another favor? You sure ask a lot of favors Gabriel." Erica says with obvious displeasure. She opens up another mussel and then eats it before taking a long drink from her glass of wine, finishing it off.
"Hey, I came out to have a good time. You want me to make stuff up, I can, but I thought we had a more honest friendly relationship about it, that's all. No hidden agenda. I only talked about what we'd already talked about, and I offered back to you, too, so don't come down on me too hard. I feel like shit enough already for having to buckle to get by." Gabriel states, "You said it yourself, there's no work. What work comes up gets fed out to the people with advertising and more weapons. I know this word is going to piss you off, but this is another situation to just be patient. Wait, learn, strengthen, strike. Then back on my own. I'm sorry, I really didn't want to piss you off. I'll just be quiet for a while." He looks off to his own flatware.
"Yes I am stuck up shit river without a paddle, and my friend who I thought I could count on is instead siding with a group he helped talk me out of. You think I should just take my continued unemployment easily? I guess the Whykin job is out now. Thanks I was looking forwards to that paycheck." Erica says with an obviously false smile. "You do what you want to do Gabriel. Damn the circumstances I guess." She picks up her napkin off her lap and puts it on the table. Opening up her purse she takes out enough credits to pay for the both of their meals as well as the wine and leaves them on the table. "Enjoy your steak Gabriel. Maybe you can ask me that favor some other time." She says with sarcasm as she scoots out her chair and stands up.
Gabriel stands politely, even if the parting is sad. "I'm sorry, Erica. There are always alternatives. You just need to find 'em. But trust me, the Whykin job is still mine. Love to have you on. Apologies for the evening, take care of yourself."
